Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
In March 2023, corporate courts recorded 917 bankruptcies. This means an increase of 10.7% compared to February 2023, when (828) bankruptcies were registered. This number is considered large if we take into account the small area of Belgium, which has a population of just over 11 million people.
And according to what was published by the Belgian Statistics Office Statbel in a comprehensive report on Friday that includes the most important developments in the monthly bankruptcy figures, and we received a copy of the report via e-mail, and it stated that the number of bankruptcies registered in March 2023 was lower compared to the same month in 2022 (-0.5%) and in in 2019 (-3.3%).

At the regional level, the number of bankruptcies increased compared to February 2023 in the Flemish region (+6.8%) and in the Brussels-Capital Region (+57.4%). Only in the Flemish region this figure (546) represents an increase compared to March 2019 (+22.7%). However, it is enough to go back to September 2022 to find a higher number of bankruptcies in the Flemish region (596).

The number of bankruptcies registered in March 2023 increased compared to February 2023 in all sectors, except for the hospitality sector (-6.9%). Compared to March 2019, this number increased in three sectors:
40 to 67 in transportation and warehousing (+27), the highest number of bankruptcies since June 2022 (78);
167 to 194 in construction (+27), or the highest number of bankruptcies since October 2022 (197);
41 to 49 in Industry and Energy (+8), since one would have to go back to September 2022 to find a larger number (50).