The number of companies declared bankrupt in Belgium increased in 2024, hitting the highest level in over a decade. The results vary between regions, with Flanders being the worst affected.
In 2024, Belgium recorded a total of 11,067 company bankruptcies. This marks an 8% increase compared to 2023, when the figure was around 10,250, the country's statistics agency Statbel confirmed on Friday.
"This also marks the highest result since 2013, when 11,740 companies filed for bankruptcy," the agency said. December, with 1,002 bankruptcies, or 9.3% more than the same month in 2023, confirmed the annual trend.
As a result of this high bankruptcy rate, more than 32,500 jobs were lost in Belgium last year, 18.3% more than in 2023 (27,517). "This is the third highest figure in the last 12 years," Statbel noted. The record for the number of job losses was recorded in 2013 (36,384), followed by 2014 (34,065).
The bankruptcy at Van Hool – a major bus construction company in Belgium – was the most significant layoff in 2024 and the biggest since Carrefour supermarket's dismissal of 1,233 employees in early 2018. Some 2,500 jobs were lost.
Among self-employed workers and private limited companies, the second-highest number of bankruptcies was recorded in more than a decade (2,250 and 7,137, respectively). Among self-employed workers in Brussels, a new record was set (almost 200 bankruptcies compared to 164 bankruptcies in 2022).
Regional disparities
Not all regions saw a surge in bankruptcies. Flanders was the worst affected, with more than 6,300 bankruptcies recorded. This is the highest total for the 2013-2024 period and is up by 7% on the previous record of 5,908 bankruptcies in 2023.
In the Walloon Region, the number of bankruptcies increased by "just" 6.2% compared to 2023. But still, with more than 2,800 companies going bust, last year marked the fourth worst result of the past 12 years.
Brussels recorded almost 2,000 bankruptcies, a 14.5% rise since 2023. "2024 has the highest number of bankruptcies in the past five years, but this total is lower compared to the period before 2020," Statbel said.
The Flemish Region saw the highest number of job losses (19,179 compared to 18,488 in 2013, the previous record). This was the highest figure in 12 years. In Wallonia, the 8,500 job losses marked the highest figure since 2015. In contrast, job losses in Brussels in 2024 were among the lowest in the past 12 years (just over 4,800).
Except in the hospitality sector, all sectors saw an increase in the number of job losses in 2024 compared to 2023. The number of bankruptcies broke records in construction (2,600 bankruptcies, 17.4% higher than the previous record in 2023) and transport and storage (724 bankruptcies were declared, an 11.7% increase compared to the 2023 record).
