Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

Commercial courts in Belgium registered 854 bankruptcies last month, May. This represents a decrease of 18.7% compared to April 2026 (1,051 cases).

The number of bankruptcies registered in May 2026 is lower than in the same month of 2025 (-3.8%), but higher than the number of bankruptcies in 2024 (+1.4%). According to figures released by the Belgian Statistical Office in a statement we received, the number of bankruptcies decreased in all regions compared to April 2026. However, Flanders saw an increase compared to both May 2025 (+1.6%) and May 2024 (+6.7%). Notably, this is the highest number of bankruptcies in May in Flanders since the previous record in 2025 (574 cases compared to 565). Since the beginning of this year, commercial courts have declared 3,098 bankruptcies in Flanders. This represents an 8.5% increase over the previous record set in 2025 (2,856 cases).

The number of bankruptcies registered in May 2026 increased compared to April 2026 in two sectors. Specifically, the number rose from:

69 to 70 in the transport and storage sector (+1), the highest figure since March 2026 (83 cases);

From 3 to 7 in the agriculture and fisheries sector (+4), the highest number of bankruptcies since March 2026 (10 cases).

Four other sectors also saw an increase in bankruptcies compared to May 2025 and May 2024:

Other services with 146 bankruptcies, the highest number for May since 2023 (147);

The transport and storage sector saw 70 bankruptcies, the highest for May since the previous record set in 2025 (69); while the industry and energy sector recorded 49 bankruptcies, a figure not seen since 2019;

The agriculture and fisheries sector saw 7 bankruptcies, the highest for May since 2023 (10).

Five months into 2026, Belgium recorded a record number of bankruptcies in three sectors:

Information and Communications (ICT), with 192 bankruptcies, a 14.3% increase compared to the previous record of 168 in 2014;

Transport and Storage, with 379 bankruptcies, a 13.5% increase compared to the previous record of 334 in 2025; and

The liberal professions and scientific and technical activities saw 398 bankruptcies, a 2.6% increase compared to the previous record of 388 in 2019. The number of jobs lost due to bankruptcies in May 2026 was 1,655, a 30.3% decrease compared to April 2026 (2,374 jobs). This also represents a decrease of 5.3% compared to May 2025, and 17.2% compared to May 2024.

In May 2026, the number of jobs lost was lower in all regions than in April 2026. Moreover, this number did not increase in any region compared to either May 2025 or May 2024.

In May 2026, the number of jobs lost due to bankruptcies increased compared to April 2026 in two sectors. This number rose from:

310 to 338 in the trade sector (+28), the highest number of job losses since March 2026 (505); and from 3 to 9 in the agriculture and fisheries sector (+6), the highest number of job losses since March 2026 (64).