Wholesale trade
Filed accounts
NACE 46492 · financial year 2025 · 236 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | 38.2% | 39.8% | 37.4% | 42.5% | 45.2% | 47.5% |
| Median net result | €12,908 | €21,249 | €22,512 | €15,152 | €19,617 | €13,566 |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Bankruptcies
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 17-06-2026 | Pierre Papiers Ciseaux
BE 0658.866.956 |
| 28-05-2026 | ALMACIN TECHNOLOGIES
BE 0666.576.080 |
| 02-02-2026 | MATTHIJS OFFICE SUPPLIES
BE 0479.283.136 |
| 15-10-2025 | 4office
BE 0808.693.057 |
| 22-09-2025 | KEN'S PROMO PLUS
BE 0425.286.701 |
| 20-11-2024 | Eti-Machine
BE 0403.999.258 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 298 of 325 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 46492 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts- 1 AVA - PAPIERWARENTemse 392 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 CLUBAnderlecht 162 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 PELEMAN INDUSTRIESPuurs-Sint-Amands 84.2 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 PBS BelgiumDeinze 61.4 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 BAERTTernat 49.7 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 115 companies- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 82
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 52
- 201 Independent retail 24
- 136 Paper and cardboard processing 4
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 3
- 116 Chemical industry 2
- 222 White-collar workers in paper and cardboard processing 2
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 2
Show the 6 others
- 311 Large retail businesses 2
- 102.04 Quarries 1
- 109 Clothing and garment industry 1
- 119 Food trade 1
- 126 Furnishing and woodworking 1
- 130 Printing, graphic arts and newspapers 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Division 46: Wholesale trade
Related activities
27 other activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale of pharmaceutical and medical goods46460 | 1,864 | 83 | 7 | 17,386 |
| Wholesale of clothing, excluding workwear and underwear46423 | 1,263 | 50 | 11 | 5,432 |
| Wholesale of other household goods46499 | 1,144 | 32 | 4 | 2,223 |
| Wholesale of electrical household appliances and audio-video equipment46431 | 963 | 35 | 10 | 3,564 |
| Wholesale of perfume and cosmetics46450 | 775 | 42 | 5 | 2,584 |
| Wholesale of household textiles and bedding46412 | 667 | 7 | 5 | 1,696 |
Show all 27 activities
| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale of non-electrical household articles46494 | 661 | 9 | 9 | 2,364 |
| Wholesale trade46496 | 567 | 16 | 6 | 3,188 |
| Wholesale trade46480 | 548 | 16 | 1 | 486 |
| Wholesale trade46442 | 462 | 16 | 4 | 1,983 |
| Wholesale trade46471 | 324 | 17 | 7 | 787 |
| Wholesale trade46474 | 266 | 9 | 1 | 477 |
| Wholesale trade46419 | 232 | 12 | 4 | 244 |
| Wholesale trade46497 | 228 | 22 | 0 | 336 |
| Wholesale trade46432 | 222 | 4 | 2 | 1,140 |
| Wholesale trade46495 | 203 | 10 | 4 | 264 |
| Wholesale trade46425 | 193 | 3 | 0 | 425 |
| Wholesale trade46493 | 193 | 15 | 1 | 643 |
| Wholesale trade46421 | 191 | 9 | 0 | 378 |
| Wholesale trade46411 | 180 | 8 | 4 | 317 |
| Wholesale trade46491 | 161 | 6 | 1 | 867 |
| Wholesale trade46472 | 130 | 3 | 1 | 184 |
| Wholesale trade46498 | 114 | 3 | 2 | 738 |
| Wholesale trade46424 | 94 | 7 | 1 | 73 |
| Wholesale trade46473 | 63 | 2 | 1 | 68 |
| Wholesale trade46441 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 76 |
| Wholesale trade46422 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 40 |
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
9,634 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €60,500 | €47,700 to €78,500 | 6,069 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €70,000 | €57,700 to €89,100 | 2,911 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €84,000 | €67,400 to €119,700 | 556 |
| 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 108,651 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 10 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
45,461 registered companiesMain parent countries: Netherlands (206), 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. Return on equity of 7.2% is below Belgium's 15.9%. The median net result of €13,566 is below Belgium's €16,492. 30.1% of the annual accounts close with a loss, against 26.7% in Belgium.
Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.3% is above Belgium's 0.2%.
Inflow and structure. Half of the companies are younger than 27.8 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. 8.0% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. In 12 months, 1.8 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 92% of the 87 NACE divisions.
Staff and filing. 30.5% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.4% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 749 of the 1,488 FTE: 50.3%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 38.2% in financial year 2020 to 47.5% in financial year 2025.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 10-11-2026 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 46492 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 1,276,421 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 699,557 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.