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Personal service activities

NACE 96
Current registrations 70,780
Starters, 12 months 7,50110.6 per 100 · Belgium 8.8
Bankruptcies, 12 months 2483.5 per 1,000 registrations · Belgium 6.2
Employment (FTE) 33,082945 employers · latest accounts
Median age 7.2 yearsBelgium 8.1 years

Activities

NACE division 96 · 15 activities
Activity Registrations Starters, 12 months Bankruptcies, 12 months FTE
Beauty care and other beauty treatments96220 24,985 3,219 64 295
Hairdressing and barber services96210 21,695 1,598 120 889
Other personal services96999 6,934 789 6 5,891
Day spas, saunas and steam baths96230 6,644 740 29 417
Pet care services, excluding veterinary services96993 3,821 505 3 35
Tattoo and piercing services96992 2,176 308 7 4
Pet training96994 1,028 110 1 41
Launderettes and laundries for private customers96102 975 52 5 1,624
Funeral services96301 897 46 5 1,698
Personal service activities96910 780 28 5 18,321
Pet boarding96995 665 73 1 65
Personal service activities96101 417 20 5 3,580
Show all 15 activities
Activity Registrations Starters, 12 months Bankruptcies, 12 months FTE
Personal service activities96991 96 3 0 -
Personal service activities96302 63 6 0 222
Personal service activities96400 38 18 0 -

Filed accounts

NACE division 96 · financial year 2025 · 8,170 filed annual accounts
Median solvency
28.2%
Belgium 46.1%
Median net result
€3,550
Belgium €16,539
Median equity
€22,565
Belgium €98,485
Loss-making
34.6%
Belgium 26.7%
Negative equity
27.1%
Belgium 12.4%
Median return on equity
14.5%
Belgium 15.9%
Median liquidity
1.10
Belgium 1.66
Filed late
48.1%
financial year 2024 · Belgium 38.4%
Per financial year20182019202020212022202320242025
Median solvency --25.7%27.3%26.0%25.6%27.3%28.5%
Median net result --€2,577€4,146€2,244€2,859€3,874€3,273
Filed late 48.2%55.0%53.7%52.1%50.1%48.8%48.1%-

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

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 96

859 employers
Median
€39,600
Belgium €61,400
Middle half
€34,100 to €51,400
half of the employers lie between
Place among sectors
76 of 78
sectors with a median staff cost per FTE, highest first
By size class
SizeMedianMiddle halfEmployers
fewer than 10 FTE €44,100 €35,000 to €56,500 452
10 to 49 FTE €37,700 €33,900 to €47,000 262
50 to 249 FTE €36,500 €33,100 to €40,100 128

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies, 5 years, still registered
572
0.81% of the registrations · Belgium 1.68%

Bankruptcies per year in division 96

Per year201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Bankruptcies271263267301320184194292327333362274
Jobs lost585631475646517377469564614635599491

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
04-11-2026 NADERM-INVEST
BE 0801.993.525
03-11-2026 D.D.G. COIFFURE
BE 0567.832.357
03-11-2026 Ergachova, Komila
BE 0736.407.568 · sole trader · Ghent
03-11-2026 THA
BE 0761.828.496
30-10-2026 Rabah, Hatem
BE 0754.804.312 · sole trader · Fléron
30-10-2026 HAIR CONTRAST
BE 0846.190.485
28-10-2026 R & A GROUP
BE 0735.658.886
27-10-2026 Vervalle, Kimberly
BE 0552.586.036 · sole trader · Ghent

Every bankruptcy in division 96, last 90 days

Running bankruptcies in the sector

NACE division 96
Number
386
Half have run longer than
17 months
Belgium: 20 months
Longer than three years
24%
Belgium: 31%

Measured nationally: Of 108,606 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 5 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

Spread across the country

by region and province · 13,336 of 70,780 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat
  • Flanders 8,238 · 61.8%
  • Wallonia 3,069 · 23.0%
  • Brussels 1,998 · 15.0%
  • Abroad 31 · 0.2%
fewer moremax 2,492

Largest employers

NACE division 96 · staff from the latest accounts
  1. 1 Diensten-aan-HuisBruges 3,079 FTEfinancial year 2025
  2. 2 FERM DIENSTENCHEQUESLeuven 975 FTEfinancial year 2025
  3. 3 Ferm HuishoudhulpLeuven 718 FTEfinancial year 2025
  4. 4 Group-f DienstenchequesKontich 616 FTEfinancial year 2025
  5. 5 CleanLeaseBeernem 531 FTEfinancial year 2025

Joint committees

from the latest accounts of 2,434 companies
  • 314 Hairdressing and beauty care 1,308
  • 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 425
  • 322.01 Approved companies for local work and services 322
  • 320 Funeral directors 259
  • 110 Textile care 181
  • 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 99
  • 302 Hotels and catering 79
  • 201 Independent retail 46
Show the 12 others
  • 322 Temporary agency work and approved local services 45
  • 337 Auxiliary committee for the non-profit sector 43
  • 124 Construction 18
  • 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 16
  • 121 Cleaning 15
  • 330 Health institutions and services 11
  • 144 Agriculture 10
  • 119 Food trade 7
  • 329.01 Socio-cultural sector 7
  • 116 Chemical industry 6
  • 149.01 Electricians: installation and distribution 6
  • 112 Garages 5

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

10 of the 12,502 companies in NACE division 96 have a parent company abroad. Main parent countries: Luxembourg (3), Germany (2) and France (2). Together they employ 707 of the division's 33,081 FTE: 2.1%, against 14% for Belgium as a whole.

Subsidies in this sector

per register · legal entities with an enterprise number
  • Flemish subsidies €1.95bn awarded 2,098 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Dienstencheques
  • Federal transfers 46.35bn amount as published 13 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Pensioenen overheidssector
  • Wallonia-Brussels Federation €4.9m paid 10 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Subventions forfaitaires
  • EU budget €81.1m attributed share 14 recipients · 2021 to 2025 · largest: Programme for Environment and Climate Action
  • EU research €24.2m EU contribution 11 recipients · 2011 to 2026 · largest: Horizon Europe

Explore every recipient in this sector

Insights on Personal services

Balance sheet and result. 27.1% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. The median net result of €3,550 is below Belgium's €16,539. Solvency of 28.2% is below Belgium's 46.1%.

Bankruptcies. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.6% is above Belgium's 0.2%. In 12 months, 3.5 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 55% of the 87 other NACE divisions. By size, the median bankruptcy probability is 0.7% at under 10 FTE, 0.2% at 10 to 49 FTE and 0.3% at 50 to 249 FTE.

Inflow and structure. 81.2% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. In 12 months, 10.6 of 100 companies started, against 8.8 in Belgium. That is more than in 79% of the 86 other NACE divisions. Brussels holds 15.0% of the seats, against 12.5% in Belgium.

Staff and filing. The median staff cost per FTE of €39,568 is below Belgium's €61,416. 48.1% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.4% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 5,920 of the 33,082 FTE: 17.9%.

Direction. Median solvency rose from 25.7% in financial year 2020 to 28.5% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €2,577 in financial year 2020 to €3,273 in financial year 2025. In 2025, Statbel counted 362 bankruptcies and 599 jobs lost, against 184 bankruptcies in 2020.

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 96 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.