Statistics on Belgian companies
How many companies Belgium has, where they start and close, by province and sector. Updated with every KBO update.
Active enterprises
1.976.253
1.197.908 legal persons · 778.345 sole traders
Starts in 30 days
9.814
148.626 in 12 months
Closures in 30 days
11.279
On Peppol
62,5%
1.207.115 of 1.931.303 checked
Starts and closures per month
So far 1 month(s) measured: Nov 2026 (running): 2.940 starts, 11.279 closures. The chart appears from three months.
Firmatlas has tracked closures since 2 October 2026. We count starts only from then too, because the KBO open data holds no companies that closed before.
VAT-registered starts and stops per year
- Starts116.9932025
- Closures101.5212025
As a table
| Year | Starts | Closures |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 100.809 | 68.065 |
| 2020 | 101.744 | 61.684 |
| 2021 | 111.379 | 66.157 |
| 2022 | 124.283 | 75.462 |
| 2023 | 111.937 | 84.336 |
| 2024 | 111.098 | 91.276 |
| 2025 | 116.993 | 101.521 |
Statbel counts VAT-registered businesses on 31 December, sole traders included, so they differ from the KBO count on this page.
By province
| Province | Active | Per 1,000 inh. | Starts per 100 | On Peppol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | 262.751 | 209,2 | 7,5 | 50,0% |
| Antwerp | 298.922 | 154,7 | 7,9 | 73,4% |
| Limburg | 133.614 | 147,1 | 7,8 | 74,9% |
| East Flanders | 236.099 | 146,5 | 7,8 | 75,6% |
| Flemish Brabant | 193.617 | 159,9 | 8,1 | 70,0% |
| West Flanders | 213.483 | 172,8 | 6,6 | 73,6% |
| Walloon Brabant | 80.412 | 192,9 | 7,5 | 62,1% |
| Hainaut | 157.115 | 114,8 | 8,9 | 58,5% |
| Liège | 152.349 | 135,4 | 8,3 | 58,2% |
| Luxembourg | 40.685 | 137,3 | 7,5 | 56,1% |
| Namur | 75.577 | 149,3 | 8,1 | 60,4% |
By sector
| Sector | Active | Starts per 100 |
|---|---|---|
| NProfessional, scientific and technical activities | 226.297 | 9,3 |
| GWholesale and retail trade | 165.330 | 7,7 |
| FConstruction | 159.736 | 9,0 |
| TOther services | 95.157 | 10,2 |
| OAdministrative and support services | 86.532 | 12,0 |
| RHuman health and social work | 79.069 | 6,9 |
| IAccommodation and food services | 65.529 | 9,0 |
| CManufacturing | 61.450 | 7,1 |
| KTelecommunications, computing and information services | 56.633 | 11,0 |
| MReal estate | 52.993 | 5,2 |
| SArts, sports and recreation | 50.147 | 8,5 |
| AAgriculture, forestry and fishing | 49.842 | 4,0 |
| QEducation | 34.790 | 11,3 |
| LFinancial and insurance activities | 34.664 | 3,4 |
| HTransport and storage | 34.018 | 14,1 |
| JPublishing, broadcasting and content | 13.021 | 12,6 |
| UHouseholds as employers | 4.692 | 12,4 |
| EWater, waste and remediation | 2.263 | 7,1 |
| PPublic administration and defence | 1.940 | 0,5 |
| DEnergy supply | 1.747 | 9,6 |
| VExtraterritorial organisations | 332 | 0,0 |
| BMining and quarrying | 290 | 2,4 |
Sources: KBO open data of the FPS Economy, as of 9 November 2026 · Peppol directory · Statbel (CC BY 4.0), processed by Firmatlas · How we count