Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

In September 2026, commercial courts recorded 1,063 bankruptcies—an increase of 117.4% compared to August 2026 (489 cases), according to official figures released by the Belgian statistical office. A statement received via email further noted:
The number of bankruptcies recorded in September 2026 is lower than in the same month in 2025 (-13.2%) and 2024 (-11.0%).
Regionally, the number of bankruptcies rose across all regions compared to August 2026; however, no region saw an increase when compared to September 2025 or September 2024.
Since the beginning of this year, commercial courts have declared 5,142 bankruptcies in the Flanders region—a 3.9% increase over the previous record set in 2025 (4,948 cases).
The number of bankruptcies recorded in September 2026 increased across all economic sectors compared to August of the same year. Among these, the "other services" sector (191 cases) was the only one to record a higher number of bankruptcies than in September 2025 (178 cases) or September 2024 (167 cases). This figure of 191 bankruptcies marks the highest number recorded for the month of September in this sector since 2013 (213 cases). Nine months into 2026, the number of bankruptcies in Belgium has reached record highs in three economic sectors:
The "other services" sector recorded 1,441 bankruptcies—an increase of 0.9% over the previous record set in 2013 (1,428 cases).
The information and communication sector recorded 312 bankruptcies—an increase of 1.3% over the previous record set in 2014 (308 cases).
The transport and storage sector recorded 633 bankruptcies—an increase of 6.0% over the previous record set in 2025 (597 cases). In September 2026, the number of jobs lost due to bankruptcy reached 2,894—a 103.9% increase compared to August 2026 (1,419 jobs). This figure also represents a 12.9% increase compared to September 2025 and a 6.1% increase compared to September 2024. Notably, this is the highest number of jobs lost in the month of September since 2013 (when 3,617 jobs were lost).
The number of jobs lost in September 2026 was higher across all regions compared to August 2026. In the Wallonia region, job losses also rose compared to both September 2025 (+78.6%) and September 2024 (+82.6%). This is the highest figure recorded for the month of September in the Walloon region since the previous peak in 2013 (1,163 compared to 1,086). The number of jobs lost due to bankruptcy in September 2026 increased across all sectors compared to August 2026. Two of these sectors also recorded higher job losses than in September 2025 and September 2024:
The "other services" sector saw 911 jobs lost—the highest figure for September since 2013 (946);
The industry and energy sector saw 320 jobs lost—a figure not seen for this month since 2015 (523).
In addition to this press release, Statbel has published more detailed monthly data, which can be broken down by municipality or according to the NACEBEL-2008 classification. Historical data is also available, dating back to 2000 for the number of bankruptcies and to 2005 for job losses. This information can be accessed on be.STAT via the "Data" tab within this publication. When analyzing these figures, it is important to note that there is a time lag between the cessation of economic activity and the declaration of bankruptcy by a commercial court. Consequently, the economic impact only becomes visible in the data released after this time lag.