Advertising, market research and public relations activities
Activities
NACE division 73 · 4 activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public relations and communication consultancy73300 | 13,240 | 706 | 35 | 11,059 |
| Advertising agencies73110 | 9,782 | 1,193 | 40 | 6,505 |
| Market research and public opinion polling73200 | 2,580 | 83 | 5 | 7,244 |
| Media representation73120 | 800 | 68 | 6 | 732 |
Filed accounts
NACE division 73 · financial year 2025 · 12,385 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | - | - | 48.0% | 48.9% | 49.7% | 51.0% | 52.5% | 51.0% |
| Median net result | - | - | €11,234 | €14,924 | €14,798 | €14,789 | €15,379 | €15,523 |
| Filed late | 40.2% | 46.9% | 43.9% | 42.3% | 40.8% | 38.6% | 36.0% | - |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 73
1,016 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €64,300 | €49,200 to €86,300 | 657 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €76,100 | €62,300 to €93,100 | 299 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €89,000 | €77,400 to €109,700 | 55 |
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 73
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 117 | 110 | 112 | 114 | 115 | 86 | 74 | 94 | 89 | 80 | 95 | 58 |
| Jobs lost | 320 | 171 | 265 | 192 | 169 | 258 | 125 | 190 | 174 | 150 | 183 | 102 |
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 |
|---|---|
| 09-11-2026 | Duquoc, Serge
BE 0565.901.661 · sole trader · Wezembeek-Oppem |
| 06-11-2026 | Hernou, Kristof
BE 0789.633.052 · sole trader · Dendermonde |
| 05-11-2026 | Eye-Marketing
BE 1011.131.760 |
| 30-10-2026 | MUSELAB
BE 1009.938.165 |
| 26-10-2026 | WAY OF LAU HEALTHERTAINMENT
BE 0699.878.160 |
| 16-10-2026 | CONTACT TMF
BE 0474.445.509 |
| 13-10-2026 | The Sales Academy
BE 0745.357.896 |
| 12-10-2026 | ZAÏDI EVENTS
BE 0769.592.951 |
Running bankruptcies in the sector
NACE division 73Measured nationally: Of 108,810 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 14 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.
Spread across the country
by region and province · 17,593 of 26,146 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 73 · staff from the latest accounts- 1 TransformicsBeringen 7,231 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 SWECOBrussels 1,952 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 MICROSOFTZaventem 528 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 I.D.E.A. S.CMons 334 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEMSOudenaarde 250 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 2,121 companies- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 1,690
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 316
- 227 Audiovisual sector 66
- 201 Independent retail 45
- 337 Auxiliary committee for the non-profit sector 40
- 302 Hotels and catering 37
- 335 Services and support for business and the self-employed 33
- 130 Printing, graphic arts and newspapers 29
Show the 12 others
- 136 Paper and cardboard processing 21
- 222 White-collar workers in paper and cardboard processing 20
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 18
- 124 Construction 17
- 323 Building management, estate agents and domestic staff 16
- 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 12
- 336 Liberal professions 12
- 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 11
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 11
- 116 Chemical industry 10
- 149.01 Electricians: installation and distribution 9
- 126 Furnishing and woodworking 8
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
81 of the 16,657 companies in NACE division 73 have a parent company abroad. Main parent countries: Netherlands (27), United Kingdom (14) and France (13). Together they employ 5,234 of the division's 25,541 FTE: 20%, against 14% for Belgium as a whole.
Subsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €560.4m awarded
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €28.5m paid
- Federal transfers 25.4m amount as published
- EU budget €826.8m attributed share
- EU research €210.5m EU contribution
Insights on Advertising and market research
Balance sheet and result. Return on equity of 18.1% is above Belgium's 15.9%. Liquidity of 1.85 is above Belgium's 1.66.
Bankruptcies. In 12 months, 3.3 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 62% of the 87 other NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.2% is above Belgium's 0.2%. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 0.2% at under 10 FTE, 0.1% at 10 to 49 FTE and 0.1% at 50 to 249 FTE.
Inflow and structure. Brussels holds 19.0% of the seats, against 12.5% in Belgium. 32.7% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. In 12 months, 7.8 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is more than in 59% of the 86 other NACE divisions.
Staff and filing. The median staff cost per FTE of €69,752 is above Belgium's €61,428. The 5 largest employers hold 10,295 of the 25,541 FTE: 40.3%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 48.0% in financial year 2020 to 51.0% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €11,234 in financial year 2020 to €15,523 in financial year 2025. In 2025, Statbel counted 95 bankruptcies and 183 jobs lost, against 86 bankruptcies in 2020.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 14-11-2026 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 73 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 1,276,430 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 700,464 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. Missing or 90 days late counts the companies with accounts missing today, or whose latest were filed more than 90 days after the deadline. The dossier follows the same rule.