Manufacture of paper and paper products
Filed accounts
NACE 17210 · financial year 2025 · 119 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | 39.4% | 39.1% | 40.3% | 45.5% | 44.3% | 48.5% |
| Median net result | €103,147 | €102,455 | €97,813 | €84,276 | €92,159 | €71,212 |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Bankruptcies
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 16-02-2026 | Museumpak
BE 0793.322.913 |
| 27-10-2025 | DESCAR
BE 0405.332.613 |
| 27-10-2025 | ALLBOX
BE 0417.348.339 |
| 04-10-2024 | transervis
BE 0707.784.056 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 145 of 152 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
The balance sheets of division 17 on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE 17210 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts- 1 DS Smith Packaging BelgiumGhent 370 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 VAN GENECHTEN BIERMANSTurnhout 328 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 Smurfit Westrock CartomillsMons 306 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 Sonoco Consumer Products MechelenMechelen 173 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 AUTAJON PACKAGING BELGIUMAnderlecht 171 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 85 companies- 136 Paper and cardboard processing 68
- 222 White-collar workers in paper and cardboard processing 63
- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 8
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 5
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 3
- 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 2
- 129 Pulp, paper and cardboard production 2
- 140.03 Road transport and logistics for third parties 2
Show the 7 others
- 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 2
- 221 White-collar workers in the paper industry 2
- 116 Chemical industry 1
- 130 Printing, graphic arts and newspapers 1
- 140 Transport and logistics 1
- 142.03 Recovery of raw materials 1
- 149 Sectors related to metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Division 17: Paper
Related activities
4 other activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.
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
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 Manufacture of paper and paper products
Balance sheet and result. The median net result of €71,212 is above Belgium's €16,490. Return on equity of 10.6% is below Belgium's 15.9%. 10.1% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.2% is above Belgium's 0.2%.
Inflow and structure. Half of the companies are younger than 31.7 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. 4.6% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. Flanders holds 75.0% of the seats, against 64.7% in Belgium.
Staff and filing. The 5 largest employers hold 1,349 of the 2,437 FTE: 55.4%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 39.4% in financial year 2020 to 48.5% in financial year 2025. The median net result fell from €103,147 in financial year 2020 to €71,212 in financial year 2025.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 11-11-2026 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 17210 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 1,276,472 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 699,781 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. The direction per financial year follows the companies still registered today. 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.