Checked Barometer
The Checked Barometer counts the bankruptcies, incorporations, reorganisations and dissolutions every month, by region and by sector. Every edition can be cited and stays frozen from the day it appears.
1,149 bankruptcies in October 2026265,508 bankruptcies since June 199734 editions since January 2024 12-11-2026 updated
Edition of January 2024
compiled on 05-11-2026, after the regular publication date (06-02-2024) · 903 bankruptcies and 15,409 incorporationsFigures by region
| Area | Bankruptcies | Incorporations | Reorganisations | Dissolutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flanders | 430+9.1% | 7,737+18% | 8-62% | 86-57% |
| Wallonia | 213+6% | 3,631+11% | 22-24% | 129+13% |
| Brussels | 260+94% | 2,893+35% | 7-13% | 372+17% |
| No known area | 0 | 1,148+6.2% | 0 | 0 |
| Belgium | 903+24% | 15,409+18% | 37-36% | 587-7.4% |
A bankruptcy counts in the region of its court. The Brussels courts also serve Halle-Vilvoorde, which therefore counts with Brussels. An incorporation counts in the region of the registered office, for a sole trader in that of the first establishment.
Notable sectors
For bankruptcies, the sector is known for 35% of this month's cases, against 26% in January 2023. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
For incorporations, the sector is known for 76% of this month's cases, against 76% in January 2023. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
Incorporations by sector
- Professional and technical services ≥ 2,1271,861
- Construction ≥ 1,7161,431
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 1,146980
- Other services ≥ 1,035831
- Administrative and support services ≥ 962793
- Health and social work ≥ 727615
- Arts, sports and recreation ≥ 622461
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 589497
Show 14 more
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 550443
- Manufacturing ≥ 492442
- Education ≥ 423394
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing ≥ 348324
- Transport and storage ≥ 319228
- Real estate ≥ 248287
- Finance and insurance ≥ 238184
- Publishing and media ≥ 12094
- Households ≥ 7559
- Water and waste ≥ 1614
- Energy ≥ 811
- Public administration ≥ 34
- Extraterritorial organisations ≥ 31
- Mining and quarrying ≥ 21
In grey: January 2023. The sector is known for 76% of the cases of January 2024 (3,640 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Insights from January 2024
In January 2024, the Belgian Official Gazette published 903 bankruptcies, 24% more than in January 2023.
In January 2024, 15,409 companies were incorporated, 18% more than in January 2023.
In January 2024, the Belgian Official Gazette published 37 judicial reorganisations, 36% fewer than in January 2023.
In January 2024, the Belgian Official Gazette published 587 judicial dissolutions, 7.4% fewer than in January 2023.
11 more sentences
That is 13% fewer than in December 2023 (1,036).
Over the twelve months from February 2023 to January 2024 there were 10,823, 10% more than the twelve months before.
In January 2024 there were 430 bankruptcies in Flanders, 213 in Wallonia and 260 in Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.
January 2024: 903 bankruptcies, the most in any January since 2020.
That is 91% more than in December 2023 (8,069).
Over the twelve months from February 2023 to January 2024 there were 109,646, 9.5% more than the twelve months before.
That is the highest monthly figure since January 2019, the start of this series.
That is 27% fewer than in December 2023 (51).
Over the twelve months from February 2023 to January 2024 there were 590, 18% more than the twelve months before.
That is 21% fewer than in December 2023 (743).
Over the twelve months from February 2023 to January 2024 there were 6,115, 7.5% fewer than the twelve months before.
Citation
Checked.be, Checked Barometer January 2024 (edition of 5 November 2026), https://checked.be/en/barometer/2024-01
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Method and sources
- An edition appears on the 6th of the next month, so the last days of the month are processed. After that the figures are fixed. Data that arrives later is listed under Revisions.
- Incorporations: companies per month of their start date in the KBO register, sole traders included.
- Companies still appear in the KBO weeks after their start date. A month's incorporations are therefore complete only two months after that month ends. Until then they carry no comparison.
- Bankruptcies, judicial reorganisations (opening) and judicial dissolutions count in the month of their publication in the Belgian Official Gazette, not in that of the judgment.
- In July and August, the judicial recess, the courts sit little. The three court figures are therefore not compared with either of those months, only with the same month a year earlier.
- The sector is the company's main activity (NACE 2025) in the KBO. The sign "≥" before a figure means that the sector of part of the cases is unknown. A comparison per sector is made only when the sector is equally well known in both months.
- Bankruptcies: the sector is known for only 35% of the cases of January 2024. That is too few for a breakdown by sector.
- The figure per 10,000 active companies sets the month's figure against the sector's active companies shortly after that month.
Every month since 2019 in the trends explorer
Definitions
All figures cover the same twelve months, November 2025 to October 2026, and were counted on 12 November 2026. The same definitions apply on every Checked market page.
- Incorporations in 12 months
- 153,357
- Enterprises with a KBO start date in those twelve months, sole traders included, even if they have stopped since.
- Bankruptcies in 12 months
- 12,147
- Declared bankruptcies the Belgian Official Gazette published in those twelve months, including those of natural persons without an enterprise number.
- Active companies
- 1,976,530
- Enterprises active in the KBO on 12 November 2026, sole traders included.
On this page
An edition's figures are fixed on the day it appears, so a quotation stays right. The edition of January 2024 has been fixed since 5 November 2026. The difference with today's count over the same twelve months is registrations and judgments that came in later.
| In the edition | 109,646 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | +1 |
| Counted today | 109,647 |
| In the edition | 10,823 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | 0 |
| Counted today | 10,823 |