A total of 4,727 Belgian companies filed for bankruptcy between January and May, resulting in the loss of 14,937 jobs, figures released on Friday by the national statistical office, Statsbel, show.
While the first few months of 2024 overall proved challenging for businesses and their employees, April was particularly tough, with a whopping 5,100 job losses, attributable largely to the collapse of the family-run bus manufacturer Van Hool, which left over 2,000 workers unemployed.
Construction was the sector hardest hit by bankruptcies, with 1,094 companies going under in the first five months of the year, a 20.8% increase over the previous record of 302 bankruptcy filings in the sector, set in 2023.
The anticipated surge in mortgage rates, high construction material costs, elevated salary indexing in 2023 and restrictions on demolition and reconstruction were cited by the Flemish Construction Federation, Bouwunie, as the main push factors for the increase.
Other sectors affected by company closures included trade, which recorded just under 1,000 bankruptcies during the period under review, and the hospitality sector, with about 850 bankruptcies in the first five months of 2024.
In the transport and storage industry, 302 companies filed for bankruptcy, an increase of 9.8% since this time in 2023, when 275 businesses went bankrupt.
