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Market research and public opinion polling

NACE 73200 · division 73 Advertising and market research
Current registrations 2,581division 73: 26,150
Starters, 12 months 823.2 per 100 · Belgium 8.9
Bankruptcies, 12 months 62.3 per 1,000 registrations · Belgium 6.2
Employment (FTE) 7,246280 employers · latest accounts
Median age 25.3 yearsBelgium 8.1 years
E-invoicing via Peppol 88.7%2,290 of 2,581 companies in the Peppol Directory · Belgium 85.0%

17 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 17 companies

Filed accounts

NACE 73200 · financial year 2025 · 1,687 filed annual accounts
Median solvency
55.2%
division 49.6% · Belgium 46.1%
Median net result
€11,252
division €15,794 · Belgium €16,520
Median equity
€185,486
division €76,467 · Belgium €98,421
Loss-making
32.3%
division 27.1% · Belgium 26.7%
Negative equity
13.3%
division 12.1% · Belgium 12.4%
Median return on equity
6.9%
division 18.1% · Belgium 15.9%
Median liquidity
2.02
division 1.85 · Belgium 1.66
Filed late
34.1%
financial year 2024, 1,756 filings · division 35.9% · Belgium 38.4%
Missing or 90 days late
5.3%
of 1,808 companies with annual accounts · division 4.8% · Belgium 5.4%
Per financial year202020212022202320242025
Median solvency 50.8%51.6%53.4%54.3%56.6%55.2%
Median net result €10,313€15,744€13,574€12,620€12,486€11,252

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

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies, 5 years, still registered
21
0.81% of the registrations · Belgium 1.68%
Running bankruptcies
35
13.6 per 1,000 registrations

Recent bankruptcies

Date Company
19-08-2026 KEDROZ
BE 0663.678.651
12-08-2026 LOCAL MARKET RESEARCH
BE 0538.753.440
23-07-2026 COHESIUM
BE 0475.079.076
09-04-2026 STAT INTERFACE
BE 0663.897.395
23-03-2026 4 G CONSULTING
BE 0843.579.702
24-11-2025 Aktrion Production & Inspection Services
BE 1009.428.223
31-10-2025 BALANCE IN BUSINESS
BE 0465.254.956
14-07-2025 ASSOCIATED MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS 2000
BE 0472.875.790

Every bankruptcy in division 73, last 90 days

Spread across the country

by region and province · 2,137 of 2,581 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat
  • Flanders 1,020 · 47.7%
  • Brussels 577 · 27.0%
  • Wallonia 495 · 23.2%
  • Abroad 45 · 2.1%
fewer moremax 577

The balance sheets of division 73 on the map, by municipality and down to the address

Largest employers

NACE 73200 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts
  1. 1 SWECOBrussels 1,952 FTEfinancial year 2025
  2. 2 MICROSOFTZaventem 528 FTEfinancial year 2025
  3. 3 I.D.E.A. S.CMons 334 FTEfinancial year 2025
  4. 4 The Boston Consulting GroupBrussels 189 FTEfinancial year 2025
  5. 5 CONSEIL EUROPEEN DE L'INDUSTRIE CHIMIQUE - EUROPEAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY COUNCILEtterbeek 157 FTEfinancial year 2025

Joint committees

from the latest accounts of 425 companies
  • 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 323
  • 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 58
  • 335 Services and support for business and the self-employed 19
  • 337 Auxiliary committee for the non-profit sector 14
  • 201 Independent retail 10
  • 323 Building management, estate agents and domestic staff 9
  • 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 7
  • 302 Hotels and catering 6
Show the 12 others
  • 336 Liberal professions 5
  • 227 Audiovisual sector 4
  • 307 Insurance brokers and agencies 4
  • 119 Food trade 3
  • 149.04 Metal trade 3
  • 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 3
  • 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 2
  • 124 Construction 2
  • 149.01 Electricians: installation and distribution 2
  • 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 2
  • 313 Pharmacies and pricing offices 2
  • 116 Chemical industry 1

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

Division 73: Advertising and market research

Related activities

3 other activities
Activity Registrations Starters, 12 months Bankruptcies, 12 months FTE
Public relations and communication consultancy73300 13,243 703 35 11,059
Advertising agencies73110 9,785 1,187 40 6,511
Media representation73120 798 66 6 732

Bankruptcies per year in division 73

Per year201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Bankruptcies11711011211411586749489809558
Jobs lost320171265192169258125190174150183102

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

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 73

1,016 employers
Median
€69,600
Belgium €61,400
Middle half
€54,100 to €91,500
half of the employers lie between
Place among sectors
27 of 78
sectors with a median staff cost per FTE, highest first
By size class
SizeMedianMiddle halfEmployers
fewer than 10 FTE €64,100 €49,200 to €86,200 657
10 to 49 FTE €76,100 €62,300 to €92,900 299
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

Running bankruptcies in the sector

NACE division 73
Number
233
Half have run longer than
23 months
Belgium: 20 months
Longer than three years
37%
Belgium: 31%

Measured nationally: Of 108,562 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 28% 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 6 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

81 of the 16,664 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 25,548 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 1,922 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Dienstencheques
  • Federal transfers 25.4m amount as published 24 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Subsidie VIAS Institute (cf. art. 2.33.2 van de algemene uitgavenbegroting)
  • Wallonia-Brussels Federation €28.5m paid 55 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Subventions aux médias de proximité
  • EU budget €826.8m attributed share 143 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Horizon Europe
  • EU research €210.5m EU contribution 85 recipients · 2007 to 2027 · largest: Horizon Europe

Explore every recipient in this sector

Insights on Market research and public opinion polling

Balance sheet and result. Return on equity of 6.9% is below Belgium's 15.9%. The median net result of €11,252 is below Belgium's €16,520. Liquidity of 2.02 is above Belgium's 1.66.

Bankruptcies. In 12 months, 2.3 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 73% of the 88 NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.2% is below Belgium's 0.2%.

Inflow and structure. Half of the companies are younger than 25.3 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. Brussels holds 27.6% of the seats, against 12.5% in Belgium. In 12 months, 3.2 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 84% of the 87 NACE divisions.

Staff and filing. 34.1% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.4% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 3,160 of the 7,246 FTE: 43.6%.

Direction. Median solvency rose from 50.8% in financial year 2020 to 55.2% in financial year 2025.

The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 06-11-2026 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 73200 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 1,276,581 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 698,987 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. The direction per financial year follows the companies still registered today. 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.

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