Largest employers
Full-time equivalents according to the financial year 2025 accounts
- 1 Retail trade239,626
- 2 Wholesale trade236,275
- 3 Employment activities189,813
- 4 Human health150,243
- 5 Social work without accommodation125,510
Sector figures
Compare every Belgian sector by NACE division on size, employment, starters, profitability, financial strength, structure and risk. Open a sector for the detail.
This view shows Belgium · All sectors. Sector figures are national, so the place does not apply here.
Active companies
1,975,145
across 88 NACE divisions
Incorporations, 12 months
152,693
of which 147,592 still active (7.5% of active companies)
Employment
2,386,207
full-time equivalents at 80,890 employers, financial year 2025
Median solvency
46.2%
over 561,660 annual accounts, financial year 2025
Every sector at a glance
Each tile is a sector. The colour follows the figure you choose.
Tile colour
Starters: Companies that started in the past twelve months and are registered today, per 100 current registrations. Divisions counted in an older NACE classification get no starter figure. Starters are registered in the current one.
The larger the tile, the more active companies the sector has.
The larger the tile, the more employees the sector has, in full-time equivalents from the filed accounts.
1 division without an employment figure is not on the map.
Click a tile to open the sector · as of 04-11-2026 05:30
Leading divisions by theme
Each leaderboard shows the five divisions leading on one aspect. Only divisions of a minimum size count, so a small division does not top a list on a handful of cases.
Fastest inflow
Starters in 12 months per 100 active companies, for divisions from 1,000 companies
- 1 Postal and courier27.8%
- 2 Programming and broadcasting17.1%
- 3 Telecommunications16.0%
- 4 Building services and landscaping13.4%
- 5 Publishing13.2%
Most profitable divisions
Median return on equity, for divisions from 100 annual accounts
- 1 Legal and accounting34.1%
- 2 Human health32.6%
- 3 Veterinary activities29.1%
- 4 Computer programming and consultancy28.4%
- 5 Auxiliary financial services23.3%
Strongest balance sheets
Median solvency, for divisions from 100 annual accounts
- 1 Membership organisations63.7%
- 2 Human health62.1%
- 3 Gambling and betting61.9%
- 4 Computer programming and consultancy55.7%
- 5 Research and development54.4%
Most bankruptcies
Bankruptcies in 12 months per 1,000 active companies, for divisions from 1,000 companies
- 1 Food and beverage service23.3
- 2 Postal and courier19.5
- 3 Land transport18.8
- 4 Construction of buildings15.4
- 5 Civil engineering14.7
Every division
88 NACE divisions in 22 sections, as of 04-11-2026 05:30. Search by name or code, sort by a column.
A
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
B
Mining and quarrying
C
Manufacturing
D
Energy
E
Water and waste
F
Construction
G
Wholesale and retail trade
H
Transport and storage
I
Accommodation and food service
J
Publishing and media
K
Telecoms and IT
DivisionActive ↓Starters 12 monthsFTESolvencyEquityNet resultLateBankruptcies per 1,000Bankruptcy probability
63 Computing infrastructure and information services
7,851
9.6%
15,255
51.3%
€80,813
€20,061
32.2%
4.1
0.18%
L
Finance and insurance
M
Real estate
N
Professional and technical services
DivisionActive ↓Starters 12 monthsFTESolvencyEquityNet resultLateBankruptcies per 1,000Bankruptcy probability
70 Head offices and management consultancy
88,110
10.3%
75,618
54.2%
€113,298
€29,758
31.9%
3.0
0.10%
O
Administrative and support services
P
Public administration
Q
Education
R
Health and social work
S
Arts, sports and recreation
T
Other services
U
Households
V
Extraterritorial organisations
No division matches this search. Show all
The dot's colour follows the map. A figure with a better and a worse side is compared with Belgium, any other figure with the other divisions.
Method and sources
The figures per division come from an overview counted again every night, as of 04-11-2026 05:30.
Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists. A division's bankruptcy probability is the median of the bankruptcy probabilities Checked computes per company. The accounts medians rest on the annual accounts filed with the National Bank. A median is shown only from 30 companies.
The historical share is the share of current registrations for which a bankruptcy opening was published in the past five years. A company with more than one main activity counts in each of those sectors. The historical share is not a future bankruptcy probability.
Starters are the companies that started in the twelve complete months before the count and are still registered today. They are the same twelve months as on every market page. Bankruptcies over twelve months are current registrations for which a bankruptcy opening was published in those months. A division without a figure gets a dash.
Definitions
All figures cover the same twelve months, November 2025 to October 2026, and were counted on 4 November 2026. The same definitions apply on every Checked market page.
- Incorporations in 12 months
- 152,693
- Enterprises with a KBO start date in those twelve months, sole traders included, even if they have stopped since.
- Bankruptcies in 12 months
- 12,147
- Declared bankruptcies the Belgian Official Gazette published in those twelve months, including those of natural persons without an enterprise number.
- Active companies
- 1,975,145
- Enterprises active in the KBO on 4 November 2026, sole traders included.
On this page
Only the companies still registered today count in the sector table. Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists.
| Incorporations | 152,693 |
|---|---|
| stopped or struck off since | -5,101 |
| Still active | 147,592 |