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 August 2026
compiled on 05-11-2026, after the regular publication date (06-09-2026) · 539 bankruptcies and 9,385 incorporationsFigures by region
| Area | Bankruptcies | Incorporations | Reorganisations | Dissolutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flanders | 237-11% | 4,744+12% | 6-33% | 6+20% |
| Wallonia | 129-3.7% | 2,545+36% | 16-20% | 10-75% |
| Brussels | 173+8.1% | 1,769+26% | 5-17% | 3-93% |
| No known area | 0 | 327-52% | 0 | 0 |
| Belgium | 539-3.6% | 9,385+15% | 27-23% | 19-78% |
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 ≥ 9056
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 8068
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 7179
- Transport and storage ≥ 3327
- Professional and technical services ≥ 3032
- Administrative and support services ≥ 2615
- Manufacturing ≥ 1919
- Other services ≥ 1511
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 139
- Finance and insurance ≥ 95
Show 8 more
In grey: August 2025. The sector is known for 77% of the cases of August 2026 (123 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Notable sectors
For bankruptcies, the sector is known for 77% of this month's cases, against 61% in August 2025. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
For incorporations, the sector is known for 75% of this month's cases, against 74% in August 2025. A comparison per sector would therefore not be meaningful.
Incorporations by sector
- Professional and technical services ≥ 1,3631,149
- Construction ≥ 930808
- Wholesale and retail trade ≥ 838632
- Administrative and support services ≥ 641538
- Other services ≥ 551496
- Telecoms and IT ≥ 467303
- Health and social work ≥ 366369
- Accommodation and food service ≥ 351330
Show 13 more
- Transport and storage ≥ 350244
- Manufacturing ≥ 254216
- Arts, sports and recreation ≥ 232286
- Education ≥ 221229
- Real estate ≥ 156203
- Publishing and media ≥ 12682
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing ≥ 7974
- Finance and insurance ≥ 5970
- Households ≥ 4136
- Water and waste ≥ 126
- Energy ≥ 119
- Mining and quarrying ≥ 00
- Public administration ≥ 01
In grey: August 2025. The sector is known for 75% of the cases of August 2026 (2,337 without a sector). No change per sector is therefore computed.
Insights from August 2026
In August 2026, the Belgian Official Gazette published 539 bankruptcies, 3.6% fewer than in August 2025.
In August 2026, 9,385 companies were incorporated, 15% more than in August 2025.
In August 2026, the Belgian Official Gazette published 27 judicial reorganisations, 23% fewer than in August 2025.
In August 2026, the Belgian Official Gazette published 19 judicial dissolutions, 78% fewer than in August 2025.
8 more sentences
Over the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026 there were 12,234, 4.5% more than the twelve months before.
That is the lowest monthly figure since August 2024.
In August 2026 there were 237 bankruptcies in Flanders, 129 in Wallonia and 173 in Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde.
That is 38% fewer than in July 2026 (15,062).
Over the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026 there were 152,918, 18% more than the twelve months before.
Over the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026 there were 657, 23% more than the twelve months before.
Over the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026 there were 4,774, 8.1% fewer than the twelve months before.
That is the lowest monthly figure since January 2019, the start of this series.
Citation
Checked.be, Checked Barometer August 2026 (edition of 5 November 2026), https://checked.be/en/barometer/2026-08
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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 August 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 | 152,918 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | +39 |
| Counted today | 152,957 |
| In the edition | 12,234 |
|---|---|
| came in or were struck off later, net | 0 |
| Counted today | 12,234 |