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 March 2026
compiled on 05-11-2026, after the regular publication date (06-04-2026) · 1,090 bankruptcies and 10,118 incorporationsFigures by region
| Area | Bankruptcies | Incorporations | Reorganisations | Dissolutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flanders | 546-3% | 4,859+15% | 23+92% | 101-43% |
| Wallonia | 258-1.1% | 2,685+41% | 26+37% | 168+185% |
| Brussels | 286+15% | 1,952+22% | 20+18% | 451+73% |
| No known area | 0 | 622+15% | 0 | 1 |
| Belgium | 1,090+1.7% | 10,118+22% | 69+44% | 721+45% |
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 ≥ 155165
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 152126
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 141114
- Transport and storage ≥ 5335
- Administrative and support services ≥ 5037
- Professional and technical services ≥ 4926
- Manufacturing ≥ 3431
- Other services ≥ 3324
- Real estate ≥ 2212
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 1911
Show 7 more
In grey: March 2025. The sector is known for 69% of the cases of March 2026 (337 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Notable sectors
For bankruptcies, the sector is known for 69% of this month's cases, against 57% in March 2025. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
For incorporations, the sector is known for 76% of this month's cases, against 73% in March 2025. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
Incorporations by sector
- Professional and technical services ≥ 1,5791,153
- Construction ≥ 1,029780
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 876652
- Administrative and support services ≥ 697545
- Other services ≥ 557422
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 486374
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 453307
- Arts, sports and recreation ≥ 304293
Show 14 more
- Health and social work ≥ 298297
- Transport and storage ≥ 288222
- Manufacturing ≥ 267231
- Real estate ≥ 226194
- Education ≥ 224179
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing ≥ 164182
- Finance and insurance ≥ 89116
- Publishing and media ≥ 8561
- Households ≥ 5233
- Water and waste ≥ 167
- Energy ≥ 1413
- Mining and quarrying ≥ 20
- Public administration ≥ 03
- Extraterritorial organisations ≥ 01
In grey: March 2025. The sector is known for 76% of the cases of March 2026 (2,412 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Insights from March 2026
In March 2026, the Belgian Official Gazette published 1,090 bankruptcies, 1.7% more than in March 2025.
In March 2026, 10,118 companies were incorporated, 22% more than in March 2025.
In March 2026, the Belgian Official Gazette published 69 judicial reorganisations, 44% more than in March 2025.
In March 2026, the Belgian Official Gazette published 721 judicial dissolutions, 45% more than in March 2025.
11 more sentences
That is 2.6% more than in February 2026 (1,062).
Over the twelve months from April 2025 to March 2026 there were 12,240, 7.8% more than the twelve months before.
In March 2026 there were 546 bankruptcies in Flanders, 258 in Wallonia and 286 in Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.
March 2026: 1,090 bankruptcies, the most in any March since the comparable series began in 2019.
That is 13% fewer than in February 2026 (11,593).
Over the twelve months from April 2025 to March 2026 there were 144,622, 18% more than the twelve months before.
That is 17% more than in February 2026 (59).
Over the twelve months from April 2025 to March 2026 there were 625, 15% more than the twelve months before.
That is 131% more than in February 2026 (312).
Over the twelve months from April 2025 to March 2026 there were 4,851, 10% fewer than the twelve months before.
That is the highest monthly figure since December 2023.
Citation
Checked.be, Checked Barometer March 2026 (edition of 5 November 2026), https://checked.be/en/barometer/2026-03
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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 March 2026 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 | 144,622 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | +2 |
| Counted today | 144,624 |
| In the edition | 12,240 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | 0 |
| Counted today | 12,240 |