Scientific research and development

NACE 7211

Current registrations629

Starters, 12 months · division 72173

Employment (FTE) · division 7226,446

Median age · division 729.5 years

In NACE division 72, 7.4 companies per 100 started in the past twelve months, against 7.5 nationally; that is higher than that of 49% of the 87 NACE divisions. Comparison: as of 04-10-2026 05:30.

Key figures for NACE division 72

fiscal year 2025 · median over 1,104 filed annual accounts

Median solvency

56.9%

higher than 94% of 79 divisions

Median equity

€225,377

higher than 68% of 79 divisions

Median net result

€19,970

higher than 63% of 79 divisions

Annual accounts in sample

1,104

Foreign control in NACE division 72

1,717 registered companies

Companies with a foreign parent

2.6%

45 of 1,717; Belgium 0.3%

Staff at those companies

13%

3,180 of 24,391 FTE; Belgium 14%

Mostly from France (11), United States (8) and Netherlands (6).Show on the map by municipality

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 72

299 employers

Median

€94,100

Belgium €61,200

Middle half

€73,400 to €118,300

half of the employers lie between

Place among sectors

3 of 78

by median staff cost per FTE

By size class
Size	Median	Middle half	Employers
fewer than 10 FTE	€93,400	€67,400 to €119,500	131
10 to 49 FTE	€92,200	€74,000 to €109,900	113
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

past five years

Bankruptcies (5y)

Historical share

2.23%

Nationally, 1.61% of current registrations have a published bankruptcy opening in the past five years. This sector's historical share is higher than that of 75% of the 88 NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability in NACE division 72 is 0.1%, against 0.2% nationally, over 1,636 scored companies. Comparison: as of 04-10-2026 05:30.

Regional split

by region · 588 of 629 enterprises with a registered office on file

Flanders 305 · 51.9%

Wallonia 203 · 34.5%

Brussels 68 · 11.6%

Unknown 12 · 2.0%

Recent bankruptcies in this sector

Date	Company
03-07-2026	TEXERE BE 1005.576.333
22-06-2026	ABR PRODUCTIONS BE 0543.594.136
24-04-2026	San'Up BE 0693.818.729
07-04-2026	SciMed Services & Solutions BE 0744.556.360
13-11-2025	OP2LYSIS DEVELOPMENT BE 0769.816.843
24-07-2025	FLYBLAST BE 1001.037.129
02-05-2025	BEWISE BE 0828.876.480
02-04-2025	ENERGY GREEN CONCEPT BE 0766.761.244

Geographic distribution

by province · based on the establishment address

West Flanders WVL 52

East Flanders OVL 99

Antwerp ANT 69

Flemish Brabant VLB 58

Limburg LIM 27

Brussels BRU 68

Hainaut HAI 44

Walloon Brabant WBR 48

Namur NAM 22

Liège LIE 79

Luxembourg LUX 10

fewer moremax 99

Where 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 €1.20bn awarded 258 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Subsidies voor Interuniversitair Micro-Elektronicacentrum (IMEC) vzw
Federal transfers 616.2m amount as published 35 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Subsidie aan het Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK) (cf. art. 2.32.1 van de Algemene Uitgaven-
Wallonia-Brussels Federation €203.7m paid 18 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Subvention légale au Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FRS-FNRS), en ce compris les chercheurs permanents (Décret du 17/07/2013)
EU budget €1.36bn attributed share 125 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Horizon Europe
EU research €2.72bn eu contribution 180 recipients · 2007 to 2027 · largest: Horizon Europe

Explore every recipient in this sector

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 2008 nomenclature, the one in which code 7211 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 72, not NACE 7211 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.