Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
During the past month, June 2025, Belgian commercial courts registered 1,134 bankruptcy cases. This represents a 28.0% increase compared to May 2025 (886 cases).
According to figures released by the Belgian Statistical Office (Statbel) in a comprehensive report including the most important developments in monthly bankruptcy figures, published by local Belgian media, the number of bankruptcies recorded in June 2025 was higher than in the same month in 2024 (+4.2%) and in 2023 (+3.8%). This is the highest value for June in Belgium since the previous record in 2023 (1,092 cases).
At the regional level, the number of bankruptcies increased in all regions compared to May 2025. Only in the Flemish Region did this number increase compared to both June 2024 (+10.4%) and June 2023 (+8.3%). This is also the highest number of bankruptcies for June in the Flemish Region since the previous record in 2023 (666 compared to 615).
Since the beginning of this year, commercial courts have announced 3,521 bankruptcies in the Flemish Region. The figure is 4.6% higher than the previous record of 2024 (3,365).
The number of bankruptcies recorded in June 2025 increased compared to May 2025 across all sectors of activity. Five sectors also saw higher bankruptcies compared to both June 2024 and June 2023:
The construction sector, with 288 bankruptcies, the highest number for a June since the previous record in 2024 (248);
The other services sector, with 178 bankruptcies, has a higher number since 2022 (209);
The liberal professions, scientific, and technical activities sector, with 107 bankruptcies, represented the highest number of bankruptcies for a single month in June since the previous record of 100 bankruptcies recorded in June 2015;
The information and communications sector, with 36 bankruptcies, the highest number for a single month in June since 2017. (40);
The agriculture and fisheries sector, with 10 bankruptcies, has to go back to 2022 to find a similar number for this month.
Six months into 2025, the number of bankruptcies in Belgium represents a record in two sectors:
The construction sector, with 1,481 bankruptcies, a 10.4% increase over the previous record in 2024 (1,342);
The transport and storage sector, with 403 bankruptcies, an 8.6% increase over the previous record in 2024 (371). The number of jobs lost due to bankruptcies in June 2025 was 2,649. This represents a 51.7% increase compared to May 2025 (1,746 jobs). It also represents a 10.8% increase compared to June 2024 and a 10.1% increase compared to June 2023.
Returning to June In 2020, we find that the number of job losses in Belgium for this month is higher (2,930 jobs).
The number of job losses in June 2025 will be higher in all regions compared to May 2025. In the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region, job losses increased compared to both June 2024 and June 2023. We must go back to 2020 to find a higher number of job losses in June in the Flemish Region (2,165 compared to 1,398) and to 2021 to find more job losses in June in the Brussels-Capital Region (588 compared to 573).
Six months later in 2025, 3,179 jobs were lost due to bankruptcy in the Brussels-Capital Region. This number exceeds the previous record set in 2019 (3,084) by 3.1%.
The number of job losses due to bankruptcy increased in June 2025 compared to May 2025 in eight sectors. Four of these sectors saw higher job losses compared to May 2025. In both June 2024 and June 2023:
The construction sector lost 564 jobs, the highest number for that month since 2015 (606);
The other services sector lost 524 jobs, a figure dating back to 2022 (545);
The hotel and restaurant sector lost 478 jobs, the highest number for June since the previous record in 2014 (470);
The independent sector (self-employment) and scientific and technical activities lost 213 jobs, the highest number for that month since 2013 (279).
Finally, since the beginning of the year, the number of jobs lost in the hotel and restaurant sector has reached 3,173. This figure is 16.4% higher than the previous record in 2016 (2,727).