Manufacture of paper and paper products
Activities
NACE division 17 · 7 activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17210 | 152 | 3 | 1 | 2,437 |
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17120 | 113 | 2 | 1 | 3,217 |
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17250 | 94 | 3 | 0 | 2,075 |
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17230 | 58 | 4 | 0 | 71 |
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17220 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 873 |
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17240 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 251 |
| Manufacture of paper and paper products17110 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 605 |
Filed accounts
NACE division 17 · financial year 2025 · 251 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | - | - | 40.9% | 42.5% | 41.9% | 47.1% | 43.5% | 48.8% |
| Median net result | - | - | €46,942 | €48,631 | €44,388 | €46,599 | €47,562 | €56,830 |
| Filed late | 31.7% | 36.5% | 34.3% | 32.5% | 35.4% | 29.7% | 34.8% | - |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 17
125 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €57,100 | €49,600 to €69,900 | 35 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €60,300 | €53,400 to €69,100 | 51 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €70,500 | €63,800 to €79,300 | 28 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies per year in division 17
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 2 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Jobs lost | 83 | 63 | 386 | 24 | 89 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 78 | 107 | 1 |
2026 through February. Every bankruptcy, also of companies that have since left the register. Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics), NACE classification of 2008.
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 07-04-2026 | TEB
BE 0552.764.396 |
| 16-02-2026 | Museumpak
BE 0793.322.913 |
| 27-10-2025 | DESCAR
BE 0405.332.613 |
| 27-10-2025 | ALLBOX
BE 0417.348.339 |
| 18-02-2025 | Renaissance Design
BE 0669.731.946 |
| 04-10-2024 | transervis
BE 0707.784.056 |
| 15-07-2024 | Label-Pak-Int'l Co
BE 0402.690.550 |
| 04-07-2023 | PACKET PRINT
BE 0419.533.710 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 333 of 413 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
This sector's balance sheets on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE division 17 · staff from the latest accounts- 1 BURGO ARDENNESVirton 592 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 OntexBuggenhout 579 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 VPK PACKAGINGDendermonde 571 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 AVERY DENNISON BELGIETurnhout 383 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 DS Smith Packaging BelgiumGhent 370 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 169 companies- 136 Paper and cardboard processing 96
- 222 White-collar workers in paper and cardboard processing 92
- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 38
- 130 Printing, graphic arts and newspapers 15
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 12
- 129 Pulp, paper and cardboard production 10
- 221 White-collar workers in the paper industry 10
- 116 Chemical industry 9
Show the 12 others
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 7
- 214 White-collar workers in the textile industry 5
- 120 Textile industry 4
- 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 3
- 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 3
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 3
- 109 Clothing and garment industry 2
- 140.03 Road transport and logistics for third parties 2
- 142.03 Recovery of raw materials 2
- 215 White-collar workers in the clothing and garment industry 2
- 120.03 Textile industry 1
- 140 Transport and logistics 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Foreign control in NACE division 17
278 registered companiesSubsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €96.0m awarded
- Federal transfers 69,800 amount as published
- EU budget €198,192 attributed share
- EU research €623,810 EU contribution
Insights on Paper
Balance sheet and result. The median net result of €60,532 is above Belgium's €16,520. Return on equity of 10.2% is below Belgium's 15.9%. 8.4% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.3% is above Belgium's 0.2%. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 0.4% at under 10 FTE and 0.2% at 10 to 49 FTE.
Inflow and structure. Half of the companies are younger than 23.9 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. In 12 months, 2.9 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 90% of the 86 other NACE divisions. 19.1% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium.
Staff and filing. The 5 largest employers hold 2,494 of the 9,529 FTE: 26.2%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 40.9% in financial year 2020 to 48.8% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €46,942 in financial year 2020 to €56,830 in financial year 2025. In 2018, Statbel counted 5 bankruptcies and 24 jobs lost, against 2 bankruptcies in 2015.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 06-11-2026 05:30.
Method and sources
Every company registered today counts under its main activities in the KBO. Establishment units do not count. Staff counts once, under the employer's first main activity, from its latest accounts and only where it fits the staff costs. The count follows the NACE 2025 classification, the version in which code 17 exists.
The bankruptcies over five years count only companies still registered today, because the activity of a company that left the register is not kept. So they are fewer than the bankruptcies of those years, and the figure is not a probability for the future. Over twelve months the count is nearly complete, because a bankrupt company stays registered while its bankruptcy runs. A company with more than one main activity counts in each of those sectors.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other NACE divisions rests on an overview of every division, counted again each night. Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists. A standing such as "more than in 80%" compares with the other divisions that have the figure. A division's bankruptcy probability is the median over its companies with a score. Belgium here counts the 1,276,581 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 698,987 registrations publish no activity.
Each median is the value of the middle company, computed over the annual accounts of financial year 2025, and is shown only from 30 accounts. A share (loss-making, negative equity) counts that year's accounts with that trait. Accounts are late when they are filed after the statutory deadline. Missing or 90 days late counts the companies with accounts missing today, or whose latest were filed more than 90 days after the deadline. The dossier follows the same rule.