Active enterprises
Every enterprise in the KBO open data of the FPS Economy that has not closed, on the date of the latest update: companies, associations, public bodies and sole traders. We place an enterprise in the province of its registered seat; a sole trader, who has no seat, in that of their first establishment. Enterprises with a seat abroad count for Belgium, not for a province.
Starts
Enterprises with a start date in the period, according to the KBO. An enterprise registered later with a start date in the past counts in the month of that date, so a recent month can still rise a little. We give no starts before 2 October 2026, because the KBO open data only holds enterprises that still exist: those that started and closed earlier are missing.
Closures
Enterprises the KBO closed, on the date of the update in which they disappeared. Firmatlas has kept them since the first load on 2 October 2026; before that we have no closures.
Companies in difficulty
Active enterprises whose legal situation in the KBO is bankruptcy, liquidation or judicial reorganisation. We count new cases per month since 2 October 2026, when the situation changes in an update. A bankruptcy sometimes appears in the KBO a few days after the ruling.
Peppol
The share of active enterprises that Firmatlas has already checked in the Peppol directory and found registered there. Enterprises not yet checked don't count.
Statbel
The yearly figures come from Statbel: VAT-registered enterprises on 31 December with their starts and stops per year, and the population on 1 January. Statbel counts only VAT-registered enterprises and per calendar year; Firmatlas counts every enterprise in the KBO and per day, so the two differ. Statbel publishes under CC BY 4.0; we sum, merge municipalities and compute ratios.
Updates
The KBO figures follow the FPS Economy's update every working day. A barometer for a running month is provisional until that month's last update. The Statbel figures follow once a year.
Reuse
You may reuse the figures and charts with credit: “Firmatlas, based on the KBO open data of the FPS Economy”, with a link to the page. Every barometer has a CSV with all its figures.