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Real estate activities

NACE 68
Current registrations 55,036
Starters, 12 months 2,8145.1 per 100 · Belgium 8.8
Bankruptcies, 12 months 2073.8 per 1,000 registrations · Belgium 6.2
Employment (FTE) 26,4043,031 employers · latest accounts
Median age 11.4 yearsBelgium 8.1 years

187 companies file their annual accounts outside the standard format, for example in a sector format. Their figures and staff are missing from the employment, the medians and the largest employers.

Show the 187 companies

Activities

NACE division 68 · 11 activities
Activity Registrations Starters, 12 months Bankruptcies, 12 months FTE
Renting and operating of own or leased non-residential real estate, excluding land68203 12,056 645 15 6,700
Real estate agency activities68310 11,702 812 34 4,649
Development of residential building projects68121 9,525 304 92 4,365
Renting and operating of own or leased residential real estate, excluding social housing68201 9,067 339 16 1,884
Buying and selling of own real estate68110 7,223 336 32 1,994
Property management for co-owned buildings (syndics)68321 3,657 82 8 1,595
Development of non-residential building projects68122 1,269 81 7 790
Real estate appraisal on a fee or contract basis68322 971 138 2 149
Real estate activities68204 586 21 0 80
Real estate activities68202 205 4 1 4,185
Real estate activities68329 155 71 0 13

Filed accounts

NACE division 68 · financial year 2025 · 35,484 filed annual accounts
Median solvency
31.5%
Belgium 46.1%
Median net result
€8,481
Belgium €16,539
Median equity
€168,223
Belgium €98,485
Loss-making
38.1%
Belgium 26.7%
Negative equity
17.5%
Belgium 12.4%
Median return on equity
5.6%
Belgium 15.9%
Median liquidity
1.18
Belgium 1.66
Filed late
36.1%
financial year 2024 · Belgium 38.4%
Per financial year20182019202020212022202320242025
Median solvency --31.7%31.3%31.3%31.3%31.0%31.2%
Median net result --€8,107€9,525€9,011€6,845€6,651€8,043
Filed late 38.7%45.0%42.1%41.1%38.8%37.7%36.1%-

Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 68

2,664 employers
Median
€62,300
Belgium €61,400
Middle half
€48,800 to €79,700
half of the employers lie between
Place among sectors
53 of 78
sectors with a median staff cost per FTE, highest first
By size class
SizeMedianMiddle halfEmployers
fewer than 10 FTE €60,300 €47,500 to €78,000 2,222
10 to 49 FTE €70,500 €58,100 to €84,600 367
50 to 249 FTE €75,900 €70,000 to €87,600 70

Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies, 5 years, still registered
599
1.09% of the registrations · Belgium 1.68%

Bankruptcies per year in division 68

Per year201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Bankruptcies259238230201237147130172172179222159
Jobs lost343300340245321220243273242264322220

2026 through September. Every bankruptcy, also of companies that have since left the register. Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics), NACE classification of 2008.

Recent bankruptcies

Date Company
04-11-2026 CAPSTON REAL ESTATE
BE 0676.858.674
30-10-2026 NS GLOBAL
BE 0646.695.733
28-10-2026 SEDIMENT
BE 0658.787.970
28-10-2026 CNL développement
BE 0680.595.649
28-10-2026 EDIMA PROPERTIES
BE 0737.536.827
28-10-2026 LOCUSTONE
BE 0749.867.111
28-10-2026 WATERPAS PROJECTS
BE 0897.322.155
26-10-2026 F&C PROPERTIES
BE 0797.098.290

Every bankruptcy in division 68, last 90 days

Running bankruptcies in the sector

NACE division 68
Number
650
Half have run longer than
28 months
Belgium: 20 months
Longer than three years
39%
Belgium: 31%

Measured nationally: Of 108,606 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 29% 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 5 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.

Outcome by court and division

Spread across the country

by region and province · 45,763 of 55,036 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat
  • Flanders 28,781 · 62.9%
  • Wallonia 10,472 · 22.9%
  • Brussels 6,355 · 13.9%
  • Abroad 155 · 0.3%
fewer moremax 7,926

This sector's balance sheets on the map, by municipality and down to the address

Largest employers

NACE division 68 · staff from the latest accounts
  1. 1 Centre Hospitalier Interrégional Edith Cavell - Les Hôpitaux de Braine-l'Alleud - Waterloo, de Delta et de Sainte-Anne Saint-Remi; les Cliniques de la Basilique et Edith Cavell, les Centres...Auderghem 3,325 FTEfinancial year 2025
  2. 2 VLAAMSE LANDMAATSCHAPPIJSaint-Josse-ten-Noode 586 FTEfinancial year 2025
  3. 3 Wonen in LimburgHouthalen-Helchteren 398 FTEfinancial year 2025
  4. 4 WOONHAVEN ANTWERPENAntwerp 396 FTEfinancial year 2025
  5. 5 CBRE GWS BelgiumMachelen (Brab.) 251 FTEfinancial year 2025

Joint committees

from the latest accounts of 5,125 companies
  • 323 Building management, estate agents and domestic staff 2,149
  • 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 1,775
  • 124 Construction 477
  • 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 465
  • 302 Hotels and catering 201
  • 201 Independent retail 122
  • 307 Insurance brokers and agencies 70
  • 112 Garages 65
Show the 12 others
  • 339 Approved social housing companies 49
  • 330 Health institutions and services 38
  • 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 37
  • 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 37
  • 336 Liberal professions 37
  • 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 34
  • 149.01 Electricians: installation and distribution 32
  • 339.02 Approved social housing companies 32
  • 119 Food trade 29
  • 144 Agriculture 27
  • 140.03 Road transport and logistics for third parties 25
  • 121 Cleaning 23

Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.

260 of the 44,403 companies in NACE division 68 have a parent company abroad. Main parent countries: Luxembourg (107), Netherlands (56) and France (32). Together they employ 560 of the division's 26,404 FTE: 2.1%, against 14% for Belgium as a whole.

Subsidies in this sector

per register · legal entities with an enterprise number
  • Flemish subsidies €2.06bn awarded 3,835 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Tussenkomst FS3 aan initiatiefnemers
  • Federal transfers 305.1m amount as published 32 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Toelagen OCMW's recht op maatschappelijke integratie
  • Wallonia-Brussels Federation €85.0m paid 33 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Subventions forfaitaires dans le fondamental
  • EU budget €138.8m attributed share 51 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Rents and purchases
  • EU research €8.7m EU contribution 11 recipients · 2008 to 2027 · largest: Horizon Europe

Explore every recipient in this sector

Insights on Real estate

Balance sheet and result. Return on equity of 5.6% is below Belgium's 15.9%. The median net result of €8,481 is below Belgium's €16,539. 38.1% of the annual accounts close with a loss, against 26.7% in Belgium.

Bankruptcies. In 12 months, 3.8 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 54% of the 87 other NACE divisions. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 0.2% at under 10 FTE, 0.1% at 10 to 49 FTE, 0.1% at 50 to 249 FTE and 0.2% at 250 FTE or more.

Inflow and structure. 16.8% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. In 12 months, 5.1 of 100 companies started, against 8.8 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 67% of the 86 other NACE divisions. Half of the companies are younger than 11.4 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium.

Staff and filing. The 5 largest employers hold 4,956 of the 26,404 FTE: 18.8%.

Direction. In 2025, Statbel counted 222 bankruptcies and 322 jobs lost, against 147 bankruptcies in 2020.

The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 05-11-2026 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 68 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 1,275,887 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 699,448 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.

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