Wholesale trade
In NACE division 46, 4.7 companies per 100 started in the past twelve months, against 7.5 nationally; that is lower than that of 71% of the 87 NACE divisions with this figure. Comparison: as of 17-10-2026 05:30.
Key figures for NACE division 46
financial year 2025 · median over 29,250 filed annual accountsForeign control in NACE division 46
45,551 registered companiesMain parent countries: Netherlands (205), Germany (128) and France (117).Show on the map by municipality
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 46
9,644 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €60,400 | €47,600 to €78,400 | 6,088 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €70,000 | €57,500 to €88,900 | 2,902 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €83,900 | €67,300 to €118,400 | 555 |
| 250 FTE or more | €80,100 | €64,700 to €98,300 | 99 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Bankruptcies
past five yearsNationally, 1.61% of current registrations have a published bankruptcy opening in the past five years. This sector's historical share is lower than that of 69% of the 88 NACE divisions with this figure. The median bankruptcy probability in NACE division 46 is 0.4%, against 0.2% nationally, over 39,224 scored companies. Comparison: as of 17-10-2026 05:30.
Bankruptcies still running
NACE division 46Measured nationally: Of 108,104 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 28% after liquidation, 3% were withdrawn; 20% were still open after five years. Half had ended after 26 months (a quarter after 15, three quarters after 51 months).
Counts companies with this main activity in the register on 17 October 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.
Regional split
by region · 1,337 of 1,369 enterprises with a registered office on fileRecent bankruptcies in this sector
8| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 05-05-2026 | DOMO CHEMICALS HOLDING
BE 0424.251.076 |
| 25-11-2025 | VENATOR BELGIUM
BE 0670.825.274 |
| 04-09-2025 | CAFARAN
BE 0461.038.327 |
| 09-07-2025 | Vecom
BE 0404.807.328 |
| 12-06-2025 | DE MOL
BE 0881.305.673 |
| 27-02-2025 | Sidaplax
BE 0401.087.377 |
| 17-06-2024 | EC Trade
BE 0820.235.859 |
| 16-11-2023 | Schäfer SB
BE 0419.627.542 |
Geographic distribution
by province · based on the registered officeWhere are this sector's balance sheets registered? By municipality, down to the address
Subsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €349.4m awarded
- Federal transfers 66.3m amount as published
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €32.0m paid
- EU budget €525.1m attributed share
- EU research €52.8m eu contribution
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 4685 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 key figures cover the whole NACE division 46, not NACE 4685 on its own: there are too few filed annual accounts per five-digit code to compute them separately. The middle company of the sector, based on all filed annual accounts.