Skip to content

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

Series

A second series, the rolling year and the bankruptcies since 1998 are in Trends.

Examples

Simple

Advanced

Checked Barometer

Edition of September 2024

compiled on 05-11-2026, after the regular publication date (06-10-2024) · 1,023 bankruptcies and 8,717 incorporations
Bankruptcies 1,023 +14% against September 2023 11,309 over twelve monthsIncorporations 8,717 +12% against September 2023 117,469 over twelve monthsJudicial reorganisations 19 -59% against September 2023 516 over twelve monthsJudicial dissolutions 135 +41% against September 2023 5,938 over twelve months

Figures by region

AreaBankruptciesIncorporationsReorganisationsDissolutions
Flanders484+11%4,535+9.1%8-67%53-20%
Wallonia258+24%1,842+12%9-44%15-46%
Brussels281+11%1,686+20%2-67%67+3250%
No known area0654+13%00
Belgium1,023+14%8,717+12%19-59%135+41%

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 40% of this month's cases, against 31% in September 2023. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.

For incorporations, the sector is known for 70% of this month's cases, against 74% in September 2023. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.

Incorporations by sector

  1. Professional and technical services ≥ 1,2981,277
  2. Construction ≥ 708747
  3. Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 633596
  4. Administrative and support services ≥ 485445
  5. Other services ≥ 440332
  6. Health and social work ≥ 389417
  7. Accommodation and food service ≥ 328291
  8. Telecoms and IT ≥ 306308
Show 14 more
  1. Education ≥ 265235
  2. Arts, sports and recreation ≥ 250260
  3. Transport and storage ≥ 213163
  4. Real estate ≥ 202178
  5. Manufacturing ≥ 196174
  6. Finance and insurance ≥ 190169
  7. Agriculture, forestry and fishing ≥ 7883
  8. Publishing and media ≥ 6844
  9. Households ≥ 4542
  10. Public administration ≥ 202
  11. Energy ≥ 1310
  12. Water and waste ≥ 64
  13. Mining and quarrying ≥ 10
  14. Extraterritorial organisations ≥ 11

In grey: September 2023. The sector is known for 70% of the cases of September 2024 (2,582 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.

Insights from September 2024

  • In September 2024, the Belgian Official Gazette published 1,023 bankruptcies, 14% more than in September 2023.

  • In September 2024, 8,717 companies were incorporated, 12% more than in September 2023.

  • In September 2024, the Belgian Official Gazette published 19 judicial reorganisations, 59% fewer than in September 2023.

  • In September 2024, the Belgian Official Gazette published 135 judicial dissolutions, 41% more than in September 2023.

8 more sentences
  • Over the twelve months from October 2023 to September 2024 there were 11,309, 9.6% more than the twelve months before.

  • In September 2024 there were 484 bankruptcies in Flanders, 258 in Wallonia and 281 in Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.

  • September 2024: 1,023 bankruptcies, the most in any September since the comparable series began in 2019.

  • That is 26% more than in August 2024 (6,908).

  • Over the twelve months from October 2023 to September 2024 there were 117,469, 12% more than the twelve months before.

  • Over the twelve months from October 2023 to September 2024 there were 516, 15% fewer than the twelve months before.

  • That is the lowest monthly figure since May 2020.

  • Over the twelve months from October 2023 to September 2024 there were 5,938, 7.1% fewer than the twelve months before.

Citation

Checked.be, Checked Barometer September 2024 (edition of 5 November 2026), https://checked.be/en/barometer/2024-09
CSV Follow via Atom
Embed in an article

Put the key figures of September 2024 in your article about companies in Belgium: incorporations, bankruptcies, reorganisations and dissolutions, with the change on a year earlier.

Preview
The preview appears here.
  • An edition's figures are frozen. What your readers see no longer changes.
  • It barely adds weight to your page: one small script and one data request, also answered from a cache. There are no cookies and no tracking.
  • Where scripts do not run (a newsletter, a feed reader) a plain link remains.

The barometer in your inbox

You get one email a month, on the day a new edition appears (the 6th). It holds the key figures, the quotable sentences and the link to the edition. No account is needed.

You first get an email to confirm. Without confirmation we send nothing and delete the address after 7 days. We keep only your email address and language, for this email and nothing else. We use no tracking. You unsubscribe with one click at the bottom of every email. Privacy statement

Next steps
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 40% of the cases of September 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 September 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.

Incorporations in 12 months
In the edition117,469
came in or were struck off later, net0
Counted today117,469
Bankruptcies in 12 months
In the edition11,309
came in or were struck off later, net0
Counted today11,309