Scientific research and development
Activities
NACE division 72 · 3 activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other research and development on natural sciences72109 | 1,162 | 57 | 6 | 18,378 |
| Research and development on biotechnology72101 | 759 | 66 | 3 | 5,496 |
| Scientific research and development72200 | 420 | 51 | 0 | 370 |
Filed accounts
NACE division 72 · financial year 2025 · 1,294 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | - | - | 56.9% | 57.7% | 57.7% | 57.3% | 56.0% | 55.9% |
| Median net result | - | - | €19,452 | €33,278 | €25,000 | €27,057 | €26,921 | €19,726 |
| Filed late | 36.4% | 43.3% | 38.0% | 38.0% | 33.6% | 35.5% | 32.4% | - |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 72
303 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €93,000 | €67,800 to €118,400 | 133 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €92,000 | €74,100 to €111,500 | 114 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €95,000 | €80,200 to €108,100 | 40 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Bankruptcies
Bankruptcies per year in division 72
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 7 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 20 | 11 |
| Jobs lost | 18 | 4 | 26 | 30 | 21 | 51 | 37 | 9 | 13 | 170 | 164 | 37 |
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 |
|---|---|
| 28-10-2026 | ANTWERP LABS
BE 0717.786.043 |
| 02-10-2026 | BAFO TEAM
BE 0734.508.051 |
| 23-09-2026 | R & O LAB
BE 0477.245.839 |
| 22-06-2026 | ABR PRODUCTIONS
BE 0543.594.136 |
| 17-04-2026 | ARTIALIS
BE 0830.584.472 |
| 07-04-2026 | SciMed Services & Solutions
BE 0744.556.360 |
| 09-03-2026 | STRATICELL SCREENING TECHNOLOGIES
BE 0872.072.956 |
| 13-02-2026 | CYTéVIE
BE 0474.812.921 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 1,918 of 2,304 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
This sector's balance sheets on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE division 72 · staff from the latest accounts- 1 Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica CentrumLeuven 2,904 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 Fonds voor wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - VlaanderenBrussels 2,773 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 FONDS DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE-FNRSBrussels 2,181 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 UCB BIOPHARMAAnderlecht 1,395 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEKMol 970 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 469 companies- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 184
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 148
- 337 Auxiliary committee for the non-profit sector 34
- 116 Chemical industry 30
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 28
- 335 Services and support for business and the self-employed 26
- 330 Health institutions and services 23
- 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 16
Show the 12 others
- 330.04 Health institutions and services 16
- 220 White-collar workers in the food industry 6
- 144 Agriculture 5
- 145 Horticulture 5
- 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 4
- 329 Socio-cultural sector 4
- 210 White-collar workers in the steel industry 2
- 326 Gas and electricity 2
- 329.01 Socio-cultural sector 2
- 101 Mining 1
- 102.03 Quarries 1
- 118 Food industry 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Foreign control in NACE division 72
1,702 registered companiesSubsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €1.20bn awarded
- Federal transfers 648.3m amount as published
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €203.4m paid
- EU budget €1.36bn attributed share
- EU research €2.73bn EU contribution
Insights on Research and development
Balance sheet and result. 38.8% of the annual accounts close with a loss, against 26.7% in Belgium. Liquidity of 2.32 is above Belgium's 1.66. Return on equity of 12.0% is below Belgium's 15.9%.
Bankruptcies. In 12 months, 3.9 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 51% of the 87 other NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.1% is below Belgium's 0.2%. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 0.1% at under 10 FTE, 0.1% at 10 to 49 FTE and 0.1% at 50 to 249 FTE.
Inflow and structure. 16.7% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. Brussels holds 18.1% of the seats, against 12.5% in Belgium. Half of the companies are younger than 9.5 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium.
Staff and filing. The median staff cost per FTE of €94,011 is above Belgium's €61,416. 32.4% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.4% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 10,223 of the 24,245 FTE: 42.2%.
Direction. Median solvency fell from 56.9% in financial year 2020 to 55.9% in financial year 2025. In 2024, Statbel counted 17 bankruptcies and 170 jobs lost, against 14 bankruptcies in 2019.
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 72 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.