Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
Filed accounts
NACE 20420 · financial year 2025 · 105 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | 40.3% | 32.9% | 26.6% | 23.7% | 22.0% | 33.3% |
| Median net result | €22,289 | €13,626 | -€2,031 | -€1,573 | -€2,681 | €595 |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Bankruptcies
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 02-07-2026 | LIQUIDES CONFIDENTIELS
BE 0698.859.957 |
| 13-05-2026 | LOCO PROJECTS
BE 0476.946.822 |
| 19-12-2025 | YAELYS
BE 0782.949.059 |
| 05-08-2025 | SKINZINESS
BE 0761.513.841 |
| 07-02-2024 | SOPRODAL
BE 0434.843.575 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 143 of 244 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
The balance sheets of division 20 on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE 20420 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts- 1 ESTEE LAUDERWesterlo 1,128 FTEfinancial year 2021
- 2 L'OREAL LIBRAMONTLibramont-Chevigny 395 FTEfinancial year 2024
- 3 L'Oréal BelgiluxBrussels 297 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 SOPRODALBeringen 114 FTEfinancial year 2022
- 5 Royal Sanders (Belgium)Ypres 89.4 FTEfinancial year 2026
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 39 companies- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 35
- 116 Chemical industry 26
- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 2
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 1
- 119 Food trade 1
- 217 Casino employees 1
- 314 Hairdressing and beauty care 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Division 20: Chemicals
Related activities
2 other activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products20411 | 154 | 8 | 2 | 1,910 |
| Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products20412 | 90 | 6 | 2 | 496 |
Bankruptcies per year in division 20
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 5 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 6 |
| Jobs lost | 177 | 7 | 23 | 36 | 86 | 191 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 148 | 12 | 54 |
2026 through June. 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 20
381 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €66,700 | €53,100 to €85,300 | 120 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €82,500 | €65,300 to €102,400 | 125 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €98,400 | €79,700 to €127,200 | 98 |
| 250 FTE or more | €143,800 | €120,400 to €155,000 | 38 |
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 20
848 registered companiesMain parent countries: Netherlands (18), United States (15) and France (14).Show on the map by municipality
Subsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €350.1m awarded
- Federal transfers 2.6m amount as published
- EU budget €607.9m attributed share
- EU research €64.4m EU contribution
Insights on Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
Balance sheet and result. 35.9% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. The median net result of €595 is below Belgium's €16,500. 47.6% of the annual accounts close with a loss, against 26.7% in Belgium.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 1.0% is above Belgium's 0.2%.
Inflow and structure. In 12 months, 14.8 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is more than in 93% of the 87 NACE divisions. Wallonia holds 35.0% of the seats, against 22.7% in Belgium. Half of the companies are younger than 5.9 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium.
Staff and filing. The 5 largest employers hold 2,023 of the 2,329 FTE: 86.9%.
Direction. Median solvency fell from 40.3% in financial year 2020 to 33.3% in financial year 2025. The median net result fell from €22,289 in financial year 2020 to €595 in financial year 2025.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 08-11-2026 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 20420 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 1,276,474 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 699,509 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.