Wholesale trade
Filed accounts
NACE 46120 · financial year 2025 · 294 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | 37.5% | 40.9% | 41.0% | 42.4% | 43.5% | 42.0% |
| Median net result | €16,616 | €29,364 | €27,148 | €20,440 | €15,780 | €20,056 |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Bankruptcies
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 13-07-2026 | Molben
BE 0533.741.510 |
| 19-03-2026 | BHM Steel
BE 0600.811.664 |
| 06-11-2024 | GPME SPRL
BE 0895.489.647 |
| 10-07-2024 | GLOBAL PRIME TRADING
BE 0628.966.608 |
| 10-02-2023 | AQUILA
BE 0423.359.864 |
| 16-11-2021 | Cerisimo
BE 0680.704.032 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 472 of 523 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
The balance sheets of division 46 on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE 46120 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts- 1 SOLUTIA EUROPEGhent 333 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 YARA BELGIUM SASaint-Josse-ten-Noode 287 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 MINAKEM HIGH POTENTMont-Saint-Guibert 67.8 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 EUROQUARTZOupeye 40.4 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 Methanex EuropeWaterloo 36.1 FTEfinancial year 2021
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 86 companies- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 32
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 29
- 116 Chemical industry 14
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 12
- 201 Independent retail 8
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 4
- 127 Fuel trade 4
- 302 Hotels and catering 3
Show the 9 others
- 140 Transport and logistics 2
- 119 Food trade 1
- 124 Construction 1
- 132 Technical farming and horticulture work 1
- 140.03 Road transport and logistics for third parties 1
- 142.04 Recovery of raw materials 1
- 144 Agriculture 1
- 149 Sectors related to metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 1
- 149.04 Metal trade 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Division 46: Wholesale trade
Related activities
8 other activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agents in non-specialised wholesale trade46190 | 5,957 | 317 | 54 | 2,246 |
| Agents specialised in the wholesale of other particular products46180 | 4,300 | 233 | 39 | 2,675 |
| Agents in the wholesale of furniture, household goods and hardware46150 | 1,696 | 46 | 17 | 942 |
| Agents in the wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco46170 | 1,597 | 81 | 20 | 1,779 |
| Agents in the wholesale of textiles, clothing, fur, footwear and leather goods46160 | 1,249 | 43 | 9 | 808 |
| Agents in the wholesale of timber and building materials46130 | 1,109 | 47 | 9 | 760 |
Show all 8 activities
| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agents in the wholesale of industrial machinery, ships and aircraft46140 | 1,059 | 51 | 8 | 1,406 |
| Wholesale trade46110 | 405 | 22 | 2 | 141 |
Bankruptcies per year in division 46
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 803 | 710 | 738 | 687 | 722 | 486 | 417 | 583 | 541 | 625 | 634 | 425 |
| Jobs lost | 1,629 | 1,655 | 1,361 | 1,216 | 1,240 | 1,054 | 890 | 1,029 | 935 | 1,383 | 1,271 | 931 |
2026 through September. 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 46
9,636 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €60,500 | €47,700 to €78,600 | 6,070 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €70,000 | €57,700 to €89,100 | 2,911 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €84,000 | €67,300 to €119,500 | 557 |
| 250 FTE or more | €80,200 | €64,700 to €98,300 | 98 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Running bankruptcies in the sector
NACE division 46Measured nationally: Of 108,642 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 28% after liquidation, 3% were withdrawn. After five years, 20% were still open. Half had ended after 26 months (a quarter after 15, three quarters after 51 months).
This counts companies with this main activity in the register on 8 November 2026. The outcome itself is not measured by sector. The activity of a company that leaves the register after its bankruptcy is too often not kept to compare closed cases fairly.
Foreign control in NACE division 46
45,467 registered companiesMain parent countries: Netherlands (207), Germany (128) and France (118).Show on the map by municipality
Subsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €266.7m awarded
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €1.3m paid
- Federal transfers 21.5m amount as published
- EU budget €531.5m attributed share
- EU research €52.9m EU contribution
Insights on Wholesale trade
Balance sheet and result. 16.3% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. Return on equity of 11.7% is below Belgium's 15.9%. The median net result of €20,056 is above Belgium's €16,500.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.4% is above Belgium's 0.2%.
Inflow and structure. 9.6% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. Half of the companies are younger than 13.7 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. In 12 months, 3.3 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 83% of the 87 NACE divisions.
Staff and filing. The 5 largest employers hold 764 of the 1,206 FTE: 63.3%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 37.5% in financial year 2020 to 42.0% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €16,616 in financial year 2020 to €20,056 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 46120 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.