Here, you will learn what bankruptcy means and how the procedure works in Belgium. You will also find current and historical figures on bankruptcies in Belgium, the main causes and potential warning signs. We also examine the consequences for customers and suppliers and explain how you can better assess the bankruptcy risk of businesses.
- What is bankruptcy?
- How has the number of bankruptcies in Belgium evolved?
- Bankruptcies in 2026: the current situation
- How does bankruptcy work in Belgium?
- Bankruptcy does not necessarily mean the end
- What are the main causes of bankruptcy?
- What signals can indicate an increased risk of bankruptcy?
- What does the bankruptcy of a customer or supplier mean for your business?
- How can you assess a business’s bankruptcy risk?
- What is the difference between bankruptcy and judicial dissolution?
- Frequently asked questions about bankruptcies
What is bankruptcy?
A business that is temporarily struggling to pay some of its invoices is not necessarily bankrupt. To be declared bankrupt in Belgium, three legal conditions must be met simultaneously:
- It must qualify as an enterprise within the meaning of Book XX of the Belgian Code of Economic Law. This includes, among others, natural persons who independently exercise a professional activity, legal entities and certain organisations without legal personality.
- Persistent cessation of payments: the business is structurally no longer able to pay its debts as they fall due. This goes beyond a temporary liquidity problem or a one-off failure to pay.
- Loss of creditworthiness (also referred to as impaired credit): creditors’ confidence in the business has been undermined. As a result, it may, for example, no longer be able to obtain new credit or rely on creditors granting extensions for payment.
When a business is declared bankrupt, a trustee is appointed to administer the bankruptcy. The trustee identifies the assets and liabilities and, where necessary, realises the assets. The available proceeds are then distributed among creditors in accordance with the applicable legal rules.
How has the number of bankruptcies in Belgium evolved?
The number of bankruptcies in Belgium has followed anything but a linear trend. Economic crises, government measures, changes in legislation and the way business courts operate have all influenced the number of bankruptcy rulings over the years.
Evolution of the number of bankruptcies in Belgium, 2001-2025
From the financial crisis to the record year of 2013
The financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 continued to affect Belgian bankruptcy figures for several years. After an initial recession, Europe experienced another economic downturn. This so-called double-dip recession kept businesses under pressure for an extended period.
This is also reflected in the bankruptcy figures. In 2013, Belgium reached a historic peak. The number of bankruptcies subsequently declined, followed by a period in which the figures gradually stabilised.
The coronavirus period marks an exceptional break in the trend
In 2020 and 2021, the picture changed completely. Despite the severe economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of bankruptcies fell sharply.
This obviously did not mean that businesses had suddenly become financially healthier. During the health crisis, the government introduced several exceptional support and protection measures. For certain periods, a moratorium protected businesses severely affected by the coronavirus crisis against bankruptcy petitions filed by their creditors.
As a result, bankruptcies were postponed or avoided in many cases. The figures for 2020 and 2021 therefore represent a clear break in the trend and are difficult to compare directly with those of normal economic years.
From 2022 onwards, a period of normalisation begins
Following the gradual withdrawal of the coronavirus measures, the number of bankruptcies began to rise again. Part of this increase can be regarded as a normalisation following the exceptionally low figures recorded during the pandemic.
This trend continued in the following years. By 2025, bankruptcy levels were once again very high. However, these figures require some nuance.
Putting the bankruptcy figures into perspective
High absolute numbers of bankruptcies do not automatically mean that businesses today are structurally more likely to go bankrupt than in the past. The size and composition of the business population, economic conditions, and changes in legislation and court practices also play a role.
Moreover, not every business facing serious financial or structural difficulties ultimately ends up in bankruptcy. In recent years, several business courts have increasingly used judicial dissolution to remove certain insolvent businesses with no assets from the economic landscape.
Bankruptcy figures remain an important indicator of the health of the Belgian business landscape, but on their own they do not provide a complete picture of the number of businesses that disappear through judicial proceedings as a result of serious difficulties. In other words, a limited increase in the number of bankruptcies can coincide with a much stronger increase in the number of judicial dissolutions.
To properly assess the evolution of businesses in difficulty, it is therefore important to consider not only bankruptcy figures, but also developments in the number of judicial dissolutions.
Bankruptcies in 2026: the current situation
Bankruptcy levels remain high in 2026. During the first nine months of the year, 8,597 businesses were declared bankrupt in Belgium. This represents an increase of 1.99% compared with the same period in 2025.
There are considerable regional differences. After nine months, 5,066 bankruptcies have been recorded in Flanders, an increase of 5.70% and another record. Brussels recorded 1,487 bankruptcies, 4.31% less than a year earlier. Wallonia, by contrast, remained broadly stable to slightly down, with a decrease of 2.18%.
How are bankruptcies evolving in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia?
The Belgian figures conceal significant regional differences. The table below shows the full-year bankruptcy figures for Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia from 2020 to 2025. For 2026, we present the most recent cumulative figures and compare them with the same period in 2025.
Last updated: 1 September 2026
Analysis by Eric Van den Broele
Director Research & Development, GraydonCreditsafe Belgium
Expert in Belgian business dynamics, bankruptcies and economic data. He has been analysing developments in the Belgian business landscape for 35 years.
How does bankruptcy work in Belgium?
Bankruptcy is declared by the business court. The exact procedure may vary depending on the circumstances, but it generally involves several steps.
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Filing or petition for bankruptcy
A business that is in a state of bankruptcy must, in principle, file for bankruptcy within one month. Proceedings may also be initiated by one or more creditors, the Public Prosecutor’s Office or, in certain circumstances, other parties legally entitled to do so.
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The business court declares the bankruptcy
The court determines whether the legal conditions have been met. If so, it declares the business bankrupt and appoints a trustee. The trustee is responsible for administering and liquidating the bankruptcy estate under the supervision of the business court.
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Creditors submit their claims
Creditors who wish to be eligible for any distribution must submit their claims. Bankruptcy cases are managed digitally through the Central Solvency Register (RegSol). This platform allows the parties concerned to submit claims and follow cases to which they have access, among other things.
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The assets are liquidated and the proceeds distributed
The trustee identifies the assets and liabilities and, where necessary, realises the assets. The available proceeds are then distributed among creditors in accordance with the statutory rules and order of priority. Preferential creditors and creditors with certain forms of security take priority over ordinary or unsecured creditors. There is therefore no guarantee that every creditor will recover the full amount of their claim.
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The bankruptcy is closed
Once the assets have been liquidated and the remaining proceedings have been completed, the business court can close the bankruptcy. For natural persons, specific rules provide for the discharge of remaining debts under certain conditions, making a fresh start possible.
IN BRIEF: Filing or application > Business court ruling > Submission of claims > Liquidation and distribution > Closure
Bankruptcy does not necessarily mean the end
Bankruptcy is often associated exclusively with failure. However, this view is too simplistic. Running a business inherently involves risks, and financial difficulties can have many different causes. Changing market conditions, the loss of a major customer, non-payment, sharply rising costs or an economic crisis can put even a viable business under severe pressure.
Belgian insolvency law has also evolved over the years. The focus is not exclusively on liquidating businesses that are no longer viable. Where recovery is still possible, procedures are available that aim to preserve all or part of a business or its activities as a going concern.
The 2018 reform of insolvency law
Even before 2018, Belgian insolvency law provided options for reorganising businesses in difficulty and, where possible, preserving their continuity. The reform of 1 May 2018 built on this approach and consolidated the various insolvency rules in Book XX of the Belgian Code of Economic Law.
Insolvency law therefore distinguishes between situations in which recovery is still possible and those in which bankruptcy is unavoidable. Judicial reorganisation proceedings can, for example, give a business in difficulty the opportunity to continue all or part of its activities through an agreement with creditors or other measures.
At the same time, the scope of the legislation was significantly broadened. Since then, insolvency proceedings have applied not only to traditional commercial companies, but also to liberal professions, non-profit organisations and foundations, among others.
An opportunity for a second chance
Even when bankruptcy can no longer be avoided, it does not necessarily mean the definitive end for an entrepreneur. For natural persons who are declared bankrupt, the law provides, under certain conditions, the possibility of being released from remaining debts after the bankruptcy.
This possibility of debt discharge reflects the principle of a second chance: an entrepreneur who goes bankrupt should, under certain conditions, be able to make a fresh start without being burdened indefinitely by debts remaining from the bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy obviously remains a major event for the entrepreneur, employees, customers, suppliers and other creditors. But it is not a judgement on the entrepreneur personally. Insolvency law therefore seeks to balance different interests: protecting creditors, preserving viable activities where possible and allowing a fresh start where appropriate.
What are the main causes of bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy rarely has one clear cause. It often results from a combination of financial problems, operational or strategic decisions and external circumstances. These problems can also reinforce one another, gradually leading a business into a situation where it is structurally unable to pay its debts as they fall due.
Financial causes
A lack of liquidity is one of the most direct threats to business continuity. Possible causes include declining turnover or profit margins, high levels of debt, insufficient working capital, rising financing costs, structural losses, or customers paying late or not at all.
Even a profitable business can run into difficulties if it does not have sufficient liquid funds available to meet its obligations on time.
Operational and strategic causes
Business decisions and operational problems can also increase vulnerability. Examples include growing too quickly, investments that generate insufficient returns, heavy dependence on a small number of customers or suppliers, an unsuitable business model, or insufficient control over costs and cash flow.
Supply chain disruptions, production problems, the loss of employees or the loss of a key supplier can also put pressure on operations and revenue.
External circumstances
A business does not operate in a vacuum. Economic recessions, inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical conflicts, sharp fluctuations in energy and raw material prices, regulatory changes or unexpected crises can affect its financial position.
The extent to which such shocks affect a business depends on factors including its financial buffers, debt levels, cash flow and resilience.
Fraud can be both a cause and a consequence
Fraud can also play a role. In cases of criminal fraud, a business may be deliberately established or used to obtain goods, money or other assets without any intention of meeting the obligations incurred. Bankruptcy may then form part of a fraudulent scheme.
In cases of liquidity fraud, this intention does not necessarily exist from the outset. Serious financial difficulties may, for example, lead to money, goods or other assets subsequently being removed from the business.
A chain reaction often develops
In practice, these causes rarely occur in isolation. A decline in turnover can put pressure on margins and cash flow, resulting in suppliers being paid later and making it more difficult to obtain additional financing. Non-payment by customers or an unexpected external shock can increase that pressure further.
Bankruptcy therefore often develops gradually: different problems accumulate and reinforce one another.
What signals can indicate an increased risk of bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy rarely comes completely out of the blue. Changes in a business’s financial position, payment behaviour, corporate structure or other characteristics are often visible beforehand. Such signals may indicate an increased risk, but they should always be assessed in context.
Potential warning signs include:
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Deteriorating payment behaviour
If a business consistently pays its invoices later and payment delays continue to increase, this may indicate growing liquidity problems.
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Declining liquidity and cash flow
A sustained decline in liquidity, negative operating cash flow or a structural shortage of working capital may indicate that a business is finding it increasingly difficult to meet its short-term obligations.
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Increasing debt and declining equity
Debt is not a problem in itself. The risk increases when debt grows faster than the business’s repayment capacity, while losses simultaneously erode its financial buffers.
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Notable changes in management or corporate structure
Changes in management, ownership or registered office are normal business events. However, numerous changes within a short period, combined with other negative developments, may warrant further investigation.
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Late filing of annual accounts
A late filing may have an administrative cause. Repeated delays become more significant when they coincide with other negative signals.
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Legal and other adverse events
Seizures, court summonses, insolvency proceedings and other official events can provide relevant information about financial or operational difficulties.
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A deteriorating credit score
A declining credit score may indicate that a business’s risk profile is changing. A sudden or sustained deterioration deserves particular attention.
Look at the bigger picture, not just one signal
None of these signals can predict bankruptcy on its own. It is primarily the combination of different data and how they evolve over time that makes it possible to identify an increased risk more effectively.
A change in management at a financially healthy business, for example, is not necessarily a cause for concern. The same change takes on a different significance if the business is simultaneously paying its invoices increasingly late, its debt is rising, its equity is declining and its credit score is deteriorating.
This is why a one-off check is often not enough. By assessing financial figures, payment behaviour, company data, legal events and other relevant indicators together, and monitoring changes over time, you gain a more complete picture of a business’s financial health and resilience.
What does the bankruptcy of a customer or supplier mean for your business?
Bankruptcy rarely affects only the business that is declared bankrupt. Customers, suppliers and other trading partners may also face consequences. The extent of the impact depends on factors including the nature of the business relationship, the amounts involved and how dependent your business is on the party concerned.
The bankruptcy of a major customer or critical supplier can trigger a chain reaction. This is why it is important to monitor the financial health of customers, suppliers and other essential business partners.
What happens if a customer goes bankrupt?
If a customer goes bankrupt while invoices remain unpaid, your business becomes a creditor. Whether and how much you ultimately recover depends on factors including the available assets and your position in the statutory order of priority among creditors.
However, the impact can be much greater than the loss on a single invoice. Large unpaid receivables can put pressure on your own cash flow and liquidity, while future revenue is also lost. The more dependent your business is on a limited number of major customers, the greater this risk becomes.
Protection against non-payment therefore begins before a potential bankruptcy occurs. By assessing customers’ creditworthiness in advance, setting appropriate credit limits and payment terms, and monitoring existing customers, you can limit your exposure.
What happens if a supplier goes bankrupt?
With a supplier, the risk is different. Your business may not be owed any money, but it could suddenly lose access to essential products, raw materials or services. This can disrupt deliveries or production processes, while finding an alternative at short notice may result in additional costs.
A heavy dependence on a single supplier for a critical product or essential service represents a particular business continuity risk. It is therefore important to identify your critical suppliers, monitor their financial health and, where possible, explore alternative sources of supply.
Look beyond your direct financial risk
The bankruptcy of a trading partner illustrates how closely businesses are interconnected, both financially and operationally. Problems at one business can spread further through the chain via customer and supplier relationships.
Effective risk management therefore also takes account of concentration risk, dependence on critical suppliers and changes in the financial health of existing business partners.
How can you assess a business’s bankruptcy risk?
Up-to-date business information can significantly reduce the risk of being unexpectedly confronted with the bankruptcy of a customer or supplier. Credit scores and other risk indicators combine large amounts of financial and non-financial information and translate them into insights that can be interpreted quickly. This means you do not need to be a financial expert yourself to assess a business’s risk profile.
The bankruptcy of an individual business can never be predicted with absolute certainty. However, advanced risk models can identify businesses that present an increased risk and detect a large proportion of subsequent bankruptcies at an early stage. This allows you to take preventive measures and limit your exposure to potential non-payment or business failure.
Combine different sources of information
A sound risk assessment looks beyond a single figure or the latest available annual accounts. Financial data on liquidity, solvency, profitability, debt and equity provide an important foundation, but they do not tell the whole story.
Combine these data with up-to-date information on payment behaviour, creditworthiness, legal events, corporate structure and other relevant developments. A credit score can bring together different data points to provide a quickly interpretable assessment of credit risk. A credit report complements this with the information needed to assess the broader risk profile of a business relationship.
Check in advance and continue monitoring
Risk management ideally begins before you enter into a new business relationship. For customers, a credit check can, for example, help you set appropriate credit limits and payment terms. For suppliers, the focus is more on their financial health and the risk that they may no longer be able to meet their obligations.
However, a positive assessment today offers no guarantee for tomorrow. By monitoring key customers and suppliers, you can identify changes in their financial position or risk profile more quickly and adjust your terms or decisions where necessary.
Combine business information with your own knowledge
External business information and risk models support business decisions, but your own experience remains valuable. Payment experiences, ordering behaviour, interactions with a customer or supplier, ongoing disputes and other changes noticed by employees can complement the external picture.
By combining external business information, your own data and practical experience, you can assess a business on the basis of the most complete and up-to-date picture possible.
What is the difference between bankruptcy and judicial dissolution?
Bankruptcy and judicial dissolution can both result in a business ceasing to exist, but they are different legal procedures.
In the case of bankruptcy, the financial position of the business is central to the proceedings. A business is considered to be in a state of bankruptcy when it has persistently ceased to pay its debts, and its creditworthiness has been impaired. The business court declares the bankruptcy and appoints a trustee to administer the assets of the bankrupt business.
In the case of judicial dissolution, the business court decides to dissolve a company. There can be several reasons for doing so. The procedure is used, among other things, for businesses that no longer comply with certain statutory obligations, but is now also applied to ghost companies, fraudulent businesses and certain insolvent businesses with no assets.
This distinction is essential for correctly interpreting trends in bankruptcy figures. A business facing serious difficulties does not necessarily cease to exist through bankruptcy proceedings. The sharp increase in the number of judicial dissolutions shows that other legal procedures are also playing an increasingly important role in the disappearance of businesses from the economic landscape.
GraydonCreditsafe analysed this trend over the period 2000-2025. In 2025, 4,714 judicial dissolutions were ordered in Belgium. This procedure therefore accounted for more than a quarter of all court-ordered business terminations.
Would you like to know more? Read our study The rise of judicial dissolution (available in Dutch and French), featuring figures and analysis on its evolution, regional differences, ghost companies and the approaches taken by the different business courts.
Frequently asked questions about bankruptcies
Who can file for the bankruptcy of a business?
A business that has persistently ceased to pay its debts and whose creditworthiness has been impaired must, in principle, file for bankruptcy itself. Bankruptcy proceedings may also be initiated by one or more creditors or by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Ultimately, the business court determines whether the legal conditions for bankruptcy have been met.
How can you check whether a business is bankrupt?
Information on Belgian bankruptcies is published in the Belgian Official Gazette and recorded in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE). The Central Solvency Register (RegSol) is used for the digital management of insolvency cases. Business information reports can also combine bankruptcy information with other up-to-date information about the business.
How long does bankruptcy proceedings take?
There is no fixed duration for bankruptcy proceedings. A relatively straightforward bankruptcy can be completed more quickly than a case involving numerous assets, creditors, disputed claims or ongoing legal proceedings. The trustee must examine the assets and liabilities, realise any assets and distribute the proceeds in accordance with the applicable legal rules before the bankruptcy can be closed.
Will a creditor get their money back in a bankruptcy?
Not necessarily. How much a creditor can recover depends on factors including the available assets and their position in the statutory order of priority. Creditors with certain privileges or forms of security take priority over ordinary or unsecured creditors. If insufficient funds are available, a creditor may recover only part of their claim or nothing at all.
Can an entrepreneur start again after bankruptcy?
Yes. Bankruptcy does not necessarily mean the definitive end of entrepreneurship. For natural persons, Belgian insolvency law provides for the discharge of remaining debts under certain conditions. The principle of a second chance is intended to enable an entrepreneur to resume economic activities after bankruptcy.
Does a poor credit score mean that a business will go bankrupt?
No. A credit score provides an assessment of credit risk and is not a prediction with absolute certainty. A low or deteriorating score may, however, warrant further investigation. Risk can be assessed more effectively by considering different financial and non-financial data together and, above all, monitoring how they evolve over time.
Does a business with payment difficulties automatically go bankrupt?
No. Temporary payment or liquidity problems do not automatically mean that a business will go bankrupt. Bankruptcy requires both a persistent cessation of payments and impaired creditworthiness. A business experiencing temporary financial difficulties may also have options to restore its situation or, where the conditions are met, make use of reorganisation proceedings.