From 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024, more than 42,000 companies were created in Belgium – a rise of +3.3%, reports Belgium's Federation of Notaries (Fednot) on Thursday. The increase is even greater in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Flanders alone accounts for more than half of those figures, with 26,352 companies set up last year. In Wallonia the number rose by 1%, with 9,710 companies started. With 6,098 new companies created, Brussels recorded an increase of 11.4%.
According to Fednot, the rise in new companies can be attributed to the new Companies and Associations Code (CSA) that came into force on 1 May 2019. The legislator hoped that the CSA would "promote entrepreneurship" – a strategy that seems to have worked as significant increases in newly established companies have been noted since 2019. "The business community has adapted smoothly to the new legislation," the federation said.
Translation: Creation of new companies from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024 in each province
"The new rules offer more flexibility for start-ups and this translates into the figures: in the year before the CAC entered into force, there were an average of 2,111 start-ups per month; meanwhile, there are 3,513," says Jan Sap, CEO of Fednot.
The entrepreneur barometer shows that company founders have an average age of 39, with 56% aged between 25 and 40. The proportion of founders older than 40 is 38.3%.
Fednot President Katrin Roggeman says that the new regulations are simpler and offer more business options, ultimately giving companies greater flexibility.
Companies that have not yet updated their bylaws (the deadline was 31 December 2023) can still consult their notary, Fednot stressed.
