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Scientific research and development

NACE 72110
Current registrations616
Starters, 12 months · division 72
175
Employment (FTE) · division 72
26,511
Median age · division 72
9.5 years

In NACE division 72, 7.6 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 with this figure. Comparison: as of 14-10-2026 05:30.

Key figures for NACE division 72

financial year 2025 · median over 1,112 filed annual accounts
Median solvency
55.9%
higher than 94% of the 79 divisions with this figure
Median equity
€219,197
higher than 68% of the 79 divisions with this figure
Median net result
€18,747
higher than 61% of the 79 divisions with this figure
Annual accounts in sample
1,112

Foreign control in NACE division 72

1,705 registered companies

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 72

302 employers
Median
€93,900
Belgium €61,400
Middle half
€73,300 to €118,400
half of the employers lie between
Place among sectors
2 of 78
sectors with a median staff cost per FTE, highest first
By size class
SizeMedianMiddle halfEmployers
fewer than 10 FTE €93,200 €68,000 to €119,700 134
10 to 49 FTE €91,800 €74,000 to €109,900 113
50 to 249 FTE €95,000 €80,200 to €108,100 40

Bankruptcies

past five years
Bankruptcies (5y)
13
Historical share
2.11%

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 74% of the 88 NACE divisions with this figure. The median bankruptcy probability in NACE division 72 is 0.1%, against 0.2% nationally, over 1,621 scored companies. Comparison: as of 14-10-2026 05:30.

Regional split

by region · 575 of 616 enterprises with a registered office on file
Flanders 297 · 51.7%
Wallonia 201 · 35.0%
Brussels 67 · 11.7%
Unknown 10 · 1.7%

Recent bankruptcies in this sector

8
Date Company
03-07-2026 TEXERE
BE 1005.576.333
22-06-2026 ABR PRODUCTIONS
BE 0543.594.136
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
28-02-2025 SYNGULON
BE 0521.816.349

Geographic distribution

by province · based on the registered office
fewer moremax 99

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 648.3m amount as published 41 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Dotatie aan het Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK)
  • 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 €2.73bn eu contribution 181 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 72110 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 72110 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.