Bankruptcies across Belgium have increased an astonishing 46% compared to this time last year, according to data recently released by Statbel, Belgium's official statistics office.
The report noted that over the first 46 weeks of this year a total of 8,122 businesses declared bankruptcy, compared to 5,549 over the same period last year.
According to the latest EU data, the percentage increase in Belgian bankruptcies is significantly greater than the EU average of 16.3%, as well as the eurozone average of 19.2%.
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Although Statbel declined to comment on the exact reason for the colossal increase in Belgian bankruptcies, it is almost certainly causally linked to the country's soaring inflation rate — and, in particular, its record high energy prices — triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Belgium's current annual inflation rate is 13.1%, greater than both the EU average rate of 11.5% and the eurozone average of 10.6%.
