Trends
Incorporations, bankruptcies, reorganisations and dissolutions by month since 2019, by region and sector.
Incorporations · Belgium
Per month · start date in the KBO
The last month (November 2026) is still running and counts up to today.
The last 24 months
All of Belgium, the four figures by month.
| Month | Incorporations | Bankruptcies | Judicial reorganisations | Judicial dissolutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2026 (running) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October 2026 | 18,818 | 1,149 | 48 | 533 |
| September 2026 | 10,886 | 1,058 | 42 | 251 |
| August 2026 | 9,383 | 539 | 27 | 19 |
| July 2026 | 15,060 | 913 | 76 | 394 |
| June 2026 | 9,397 | 1,097 | 57 | 588 |
| May 2026 | 9,479 | 959 | 57 | 430 |
| April 2026 | 17,435 | 1,147 | 69 | 309 |
| March 2026 | 10,118 | 1,090 | 69 | 721 |
| February 2026 | 11,594 | 1,062 | 59 | 312 |
| January 2026 | 18,891 | 881 | 50 | 469 |
| December 2025 | 11,194 | 1,270 | 68 | 397 |
| November 2025 | 10,186 | 982 | 37 | 491 |
| October 2025 | 19,856 | 1,266 | 53 | 463 |
| September 2025 | 10,325 | 1,028 | 35 | 181 |
| August 2025 | 8,195 | 559 | 35 | 87 |
| July 2025 | 13,427 | 945 | 65 | 308 |
| June 2025 | 7,877 | 1,151 | 39 | 405 |
| May 2025 | 8,528 | 903 | 46 | 560 |
| April 2025 | 14,435 | 1,103 | 69 | 457 |
| March 2025 | 8,273 | 1,072 | 48 | 496 |
| February 2025 | 9,841 | 954 | 25 | 472 |
| January 2025 | 16,425 | 908 | 50 | 596 |
| December 2024 | 9,201 | 1,117 | 46 | 633 |
Bankruptcies since 1998
Belgian Official GazetteOver twelve months (November 2025 to October 2026): 12,147 bankruptcies, the highest since the comparable series began in 2019.
- Legal entities
- Natural persons and not stated
- 2026: up to October 2026
Figures per year
| Year | Total | Legal entities | Natural persons | Not stated | With enterprise number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (running) | 9,895 | 7,454 | 2,441 | 0 | 93% |
| 2025 | 12,141 | 9,083 | 3,058 | 0 | 92% |
| 2024 | 11,401 | 7,997 | 3,404 | 0 | 91% |
| 2023 | 10,649 | 7,435 | 3,214 | 0 | 93% |
| 2022 | 9,731 | 6,909 | 2,822 | 0 | 93% |
| 2021 | 6,906 | 4,852 | 2,054 | 0 | 92% |
| 2020 | 7,945 | 5,554 | 2,391 | 0 | 92% |
| 2019 | 11,504 | 8,263 | 3,241 | 0 | 92% |
| 2018 | 9,942 | 7,449 | 2,492 | 1 | 95% |
| 2017 | 10,137 | 7,487 | 2,644 | 6 | 95% |
| 2016 | 9,653 | 7,384 | 2,268 | 1 | 94% |
| 2015 | 10,310 | 7,487 | 2,821 | 2 | 95% |
| 2014 | 10,928 | 8,404 | 2,481 | 43 | 96% |
| 2013 | 11,748 | 9,295 | 2,352 | 101 | 97% |
| 2012 | 10,218 | 8,095 | 2,014 | 109 | 97% |
| 2011 | 9,801 | 7,822 | 1,940 | 39 | 98% |
| 2010 | 9,688 | 7,664 | 2,001 | 23 | 98% |
| 2009 | 9,274 | 7,387 | 1,871 | 16 | 98% |
| 2008 | 8,207 | 6,491 | 1,701 | 15 | 99% |
| 2007 | 7,606 | 6,032 | 1,550 | 24 | 98% |
| 2006 | 7,540 | 6,004 | 1,520 | 16 | 99% |
| 2005 | 7,831 | 6,165 | 1,648 | 18 | 99% |
| 2004 | 7,947 | 6,254 | 1,631 | 62 | 97% |
| 2003 | 7,569 | 5,996 | 1,533 | 40 | 38% |
| 2002 | 6,899 | 5,606 | 1,293 | 0 | 0% |
| 2001 | 6,710 | 5,344 | 1,366 | 0 | 0% |
| 2000 | 6,320 | 5,018 | 1,302 | 0 | 0% |
| 1999 | 6,615 | 5,217 | 1,398 | 0 | 0% |
| 1998 | 6,521 | 5,113 | 1,408 | 0 | 0% |
This counts bankruptcy openings per month of publication, as the monthly figures do. From June 1997 to April 2018 the figures come from the gazette's texts before RegSol. In a sample of 66 editions, 99% of the openings were found. So read the years before 2018 as a lower bound. The gazette has printed an enterprise number only since July 2003. Before that, whether it is a legal entity or a natural person follows from the name. For 2013 the count nearly matches the official statistics: 11,748 here, 11,740 at Statbel. The comparison with earlier years covers only the years since 2019, counted the same way.
Outcome of bankruptcies
Of 108,424 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).
Bankruptcy radar
The radar counts companies per stage of the ladder, over the last 90 days (4 Aug 2026 to 1 Nov 2026) against the 90 days before. Early signals and reorganisations often come months before a bankruptcy.
Bankruptcies by province
Office or establishment, last 90 days
72 bankruptcies have no province, because the register links the office or establishment to no Belgian municipality.
Signals by sector
| Sector (NACE division) | Early signals T-90 | Reorganisations T-60 | Bankruptcies T-0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil engineering NACE 42 rising | 10 | 0 | 29+164% |
| Financial services NACE 64 rising | 17+70% | 1 | 23+109% |
| Architecture and engineering NACE 71 rising | 4 | 0 | 32+100% |
| Postal and courier NACE 53 rising | 170% | 0 | 25+32% |
| Building services and landscaping NACE 81 rising | 29-17% | 5 | 76+13% |
| Specialised construction NACE 43 rising | 132-13% | 24+14% | 326+10% |
| Food products NACE 10 rising | 4 | 2 | 24+9.1% |
| Head offices and management consultancy NACE 70 rising | 43+4.9% | 3 | 69+7.8% |
| Advertising and market research NACE 73 rising | 17+42% | 1 | 19+5.6% |
| Construction of buildings NACE 41 rising | 79-23% | 5 | 120+0.8% |
| Food and beverage service NACE 56 rising | 125+28% | 21-38% | 331+0.6% |
| Retail trade NACE 47 | 133+21% | 14-13% | 229-3.4% |
| Wholesale trade NACE 46 | 74+37% | 3 | 101-5.6% |
| Land transport NACE 49 | 77+45% | 5 | 98-13% |
| Personal services NACE 96 | 34+48% | 3 | 54-31% |
Show the other 58 sectors
626 bankruptcies have no known sector. They count in the totals, not in the table.
A rise or fall is only shown from ten companies in both periods. A sector is rising when its bankruptcies rise. A strike-off the FPS Economy later withdrew does not count.
Insights on incorporations
These sentences come straight from the figures. Credit Checked.be as the source.
- In October 2026, 18,818 companies were incorporated, 5.2% fewer than in October 2025.
- Over the twelve months from November 2025 to October 2026 there were 152,441, 13% more than the twelve months before.
Source: Checked.be, based on the KBO and the Belgian Official Gazette, counted on 1 November 2026.
Method and sources
- Incorporations count by month of the start date in the KBO, sole traders included. Companies the KBO had already struck off before April 2026 are missing. Older months therefore count somewhat fewer incorporations than there really were.
- Bankruptcies, judicial reorganisations (opening) and judicial dissolutions count by month of publication in the Belgian Official Gazette, since January 2019.
- Judgments are published per court, and the Brussels courts also serve Halle-Vilvoorde. So that arrondissement counts with Brussels for every series, not with Flanders.
- The sector is the main activity (NACE 2025) the KBO gave the company. For older bankruptcies the sector is often no longer known, because the company had already left the KBO. A sector line counts only the cases with a known sector and says so.
- A month is marked when it is at least 35% above (or below) the same month a year earlier and clearly above (or below) the average of the twelve months before.
Definitions
All figures cover the same twelve months, November 2025 to October 2026, and were counted on 1 November 2026. The same definitions apply on every Checked market page.
- Incorporations in 12 months
- 152,441
- 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
- 1,974,108
- Enterprises active in the KBO on 1 November 2026, sole traders included.
On this page
The cards, the chart, the quotable sentences and the table follow exactly these definitions. The running month counts up to the day of the count.
The radar counts companies with an enterprise number over two periods of 90 days, per stage of the ladder. A company counts once per stage and per period.
| Published bankruptcies | 12,147 |
|---|---|
| natural persons without an enterprise number | -819 |
| second publication for the same company | -52 |
| Companies | 11,276 |