Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations

NACE 21

Current registrations376

Starters, 12 months9

Employment (FTE)33,093

Median age12.7 years

In NACE division 21, 2.4 companies per 100 started in the past twelve months, against 7.5 nationally; that is lower than that of 92% of the 86 other NACE divisions. Comparison: as of 29-09-2026 05:30.

Key figures for NACE division 21

fiscal year 2025 · median over 178 filed annual accounts

Median solvency

47.3%

higher than 65% of 78 divisions

Median equity

€368,507

higher than 86% of 78 divisions

Median net result

€18,613

higher than 62% of 78 divisions

Annual accounts in sample

178

Foreign control in NACE division 21

307 registered companies

Companies with a foreign parent

8.5%

26 of 307; Belgium 0.3%

Staff at those companies

74%

22,709 of 30,500 FTE; Belgium 15%

Mostly from United States (6), France (5) and Netherlands (4).Show on the map by municipality

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 21

61 employers of at least 10 FTE

Median

€98,900

Belgium €65,100

Middle half

€78,800 to €115,200

half of the employers lie between

Place among sectors

2 of 73

by median staff cost per FTE

By size class
Size	Median	Middle half	Employers
10 to 49 FTE	€102,100	€95,400 to €117,500	26
50 to 249 FTE	€82,600	€71,000 to €93,500	20

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

Bankruptcies

past five years

Bankruptcies (5y)

Historical share

3.19%

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 91% of the 87 other NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability in NACE division 21 is 0.6%, against 0.5% nationally, over 303 scored companies. Comparison: as of 29-09-2026 05:30.

Regional split

by region · 357 of 376 enterprises with a registered office on file

Flanders 175 · 49.0%

Wallonia 133 · 37.3%

Brussels 41 · 11.5%

Unknown 8 · 2.2%

Recent bankruptcies in this sector

Date	Company
24-04-2026	San'Up BE 0693.818.729
10-03-2026	Amalus Therapeutics BE 0803.929.268
27-10-2025	UNIZIMA BE 0744.643.759
27-10-2025	Quantoom Biosciences BE 0744.643.858
10-10-2025	UNIVERCELLS BE 0502.742.288
02-09-2025	EXOTHERA BE 0744.643.660
15-04-2025	ROMARK BELGIUM BE 0536.645.867
24-01-2025	ORGENESIS SERVICES SRL BE 0790.353.624

Geographic distribution

by province · based on the establishment address

West Flanders WVL 14

East Flanders OVL 47

Antwerp ANT 65

Flemish Brabant VLB 26

Limburg LIM 23

Brussels BRU 41

Hainaut HAI 35

Walloon Brabant WBR 36

Namur NAM 8

Liège LIE 43

Luxembourg LUX 11

fewer moremax 65

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 €65.0m awarded 71 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Onderzoeksproject
Federal transfers 1.2m amount as published 2 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Subsidies voor de verbetering van telecommunicatieconnectiviteit
EU budget €15.6m attributed share 10 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Horizon Europe
EU research €38.2m eu contribution 15 recipients · 2008 to 2026 · 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 21 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.