Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products

NACE 20

Current registrations1,273

Starters, 12 months68

Employment (FTE)47,043

Median age15.2 years

In NACE division 20, 5.3 companies per 100 started in the past twelve months, against 7.5 nationally; that is lower than that of 67% of the 86 other NACE divisions. Comparison: as of 29-09-2026 05:30.

Key figures for NACE division 20

fiscal year 2025 · median over 504 filed annual accounts

Median solvency

47.3%

higher than 67% of 78 divisions

Median equity

€1.2m

highest of all divisions

Median net result

€40,133

higher than 90% of 78 divisions

Annual accounts in sample

504

Foreign control in NACE division 20

856 registered companies

Companies with a foreign parent

11%

94 of 856; Belgium 0.3%

Staff at those companies

50%

21,994 of 44,122 FTE; Belgium 15%

Mostly from Netherlands (17), United States (15) and France (14).Show on the map by municipality

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 20

261 employers of at least 10 FTE

Median

€95,800

Belgium €65,100

Middle half

€74,200 to €125,700

half of the employers lie between

Place among sectors

3 of 73

by median staff cost per FTE

By size class
Size	Median	Middle half	Employers
10 to 49 FTE	€81,700	€63,900 to €101,900	127
50 to 249 FTE	€97,900	€79,500 to €126,600	97
250 FTE or more	€143,300	€118,500 to €153,400	37

Best-paying employers in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench

Bankruptcies

past five years

Bankruptcies (5y)

Historical share

2.12%

Nationally, 1.61% of current registrations have a published bankruptcy opening in the past five years. This sector's historical share is higher than that of 70% of the 87 other NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability in NACE division 20 is 0.3%, against 0.5% nationally, over 844 scored companies. Comparison: as of 29-09-2026 05:30.

Regional split

by region · 1,024 of 1,273 enterprises with a registered office on file

Flanders 618 · 60.4%

Wallonia 304 · 29.7%

Brussels 81 · 7.9%

Unknown 21 · 2.1%

Recent bankruptcies in this sector

Date	Company
02-07-2026	LIQUIDES CONFIDENTIELS BE 0698.859.957
13-05-2026	LOCO PROJECTS BE 0476.946.822
05-05-2026	Domo Engineered Materials BE 0875.100.841
09-03-2026	RECUPROCES INVESTMENT BE 0825.429.616
27-02-2026	LAMONT PRODUCTS BE 0438.982.111
18-02-2026	FLAUREA CHEMICALS BE 0536.756.626
19-12-2025	YAELYS BE 0782.949.059
20-10-2025	COMEVAR BE 0822.662.839

Geographic distribution

by province · based on the establishment address

West Flanders WVL 109

East Flanders OVL 162

Antwerp ANT 193

Flemish Brabant VLB 61

Limburg LIM 93

Brussels BRU 81

Hainaut HAI 118

Walloon Brabant WBR 55

Namur NAM 42

Liège LIE 77

Luxembourg LUX 12

fewer moremax 193

Where does this sector's wealth sit? By municipality, down to the street

Public money in this sector

per register · legal entities with an enterprise number

Flemish subsidies €350.1m awarded 270 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Subsidie voor bedrijven ter compensatie van indirecte emissiekosten
Federal transfers 2.6m amount as published 4 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Subsidies voor de verbetering van telecommunicatieconnectiviteit
EU budget €607.9m attributed share 19 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Innovation Fund
EU research €64.0m eu contribution 43 recipients · 2008 to 2027 · largest: Horizon 2020

Explore every recipient in this sector

How these figures are counted

Current enterprise registrations are counted through their registered main activities; establishment units are excluded. Counted in the KBO's NACE 2025 nomenclature, the one in which code 20 exists.

Share of currently registered companies with a published bankruptcy opening in the past five years. Registered main activities in the selected classification can overlap. This retrospective share is not a future bankruptcy probability.

The comparison with the country and with the other NACE divisions comes from a nightly overview of every division, each counted in the nomenclature in which it exists. A standing such as "higher than 80%" counts the other divisions that have the figure. The bankruptcy probability is the median of our nightly score over the division's companies that have one; the count is stated.

The middle company of the sector, based on all filed annual accounts.