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 14-11-2026 updated
Edition of December 2025
compiled on 05-11-2026, after the regular publication date (06-01-2026) · 1,270 bankruptcies and 11,194 incorporationsFigures by region
| Area | Bankruptcies | Incorporations | Reorganisations | Dissolutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flanders | 653+34% | 5,806+15% | 23-18% | 82-46% |
| Wallonia | 2700% | 2,894+35% | 26+53% | 97-57% |
| Brussels | 347-3.1% | 2,053+25% | 19+1800% | 218-15% |
| No known area | 0 | 441+14% | 0 | 0 |
| Belgium | 1,270+14% | 11,194+22% | 68+48% | 397-37% |
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.
Bankruptcies by sector
- Construction ≥ 198126
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 161100
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 13499
- Transport and storage ≥ 6737
- Administrative and support services ≥ 5837
- Professional and technical services ≥ 4929
- Manufacturing ≥ 4730
- Other services ≥ 3718
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 3615
- Real estate ≥ 1817
Show 8 more
In grey: December 2024. The sector is known for 66% of the cases of December 2025 (428 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Notable sectors
For bankruptcies, the sector is known for 66% of this month's cases, against 48% in December 2024. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
For incorporations, the sector is known for 77% of this month's cases, against 75% in December 2024. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
Incorporations by sector
- Professional and technical services ≥ 2,0671,526
- Construction ≥ 1,150849
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 923679
- Administrative and support services ≥ 710542
- Other services ≥ 513353
- Health and social work ≥ 512448
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 460389
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 443398
Show 13 more
- Transport and storage ≥ 320197
- Real estate ≥ 298242
- Manufacturing ≥ 295269
- Arts, sports and recreation ≥ 264250
- Finance and insurance ≥ 201327
- Education ≥ 185152
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing ≥ 137128
- Publishing and media ≥ 8451
- Households ≥ 3027
- Energy ≥ 1416
- Water and waste ≥ 106
- Mining and quarrying ≥ 12
- Public administration ≥ 05
In grey: December 2024. The sector is known for 77% of the cases of December 2025 (2,577 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Insights from December 2025
In December 2025, the Belgian Official Gazette published 1,270 bankruptcies, 14% more than in December 2024.
In December 2025, 11,194 companies were incorporated, 22% more than in December 2024.
In December 2025, the Belgian Official Gazette published 68 judicial reorganisations, 48% more than in December 2024.
In December 2025, the Belgian Official Gazette published 397 judicial dissolutions, 37% fewer than in December 2024.
11 more sentences
That is 29% more than in November 2025 (982).
Over the twelve months from January 2025 to December 2025 there were 12,141, 6.5% more than the twelve months before.
That is the highest monthly figure since January 2019, the start of this series.
In December 2025 there were 653 bankruptcies in Flanders, 270 in Wallonia and 347 in Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.
December 2025: 1,270 bankruptcies, the most in any December since the comparable series began in 2019.
That is 9.9% more than in November 2025 (10,187).
Over the twelve months from January 2025 to December 2025 there were 138,558, 15% more than the twelve months before.
That is 84% more than in November 2025 (37).
Over the twelve months from January 2025 to December 2025 there were 570, 7.1% more than the twelve months before.
That is 19% fewer than in November 2025 (491).
Over the twelve months from January 2025 to December 2025 there were 4,913, 12% fewer than the twelve months before.
Citation
Checked.be, Checked Barometer December 2025 (edition of 5 November 2026), https://checked.be/en/barometer/2025-12
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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.
- 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 14 November 2026. The same definitions apply on every Checked market page.
- Incorporations in 12 months
- 153,469
- 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
- 1,976,894
- Enterprises active in the KBO on 14 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 December 2025 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 | 138,558 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | -1 |
| Counted today | 138,557 |
| In the edition | 12,141 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | 0 |
| Counted today | 12,141 |