Bankruptcies continue to drop in Belgium

The number of companies to file for bankruptcy in Belgium fell again in January, for the 11th consecutive month. Last month, 14% fewer businesses went bankrupt than in the same period in 2014, reports Trends, based on figures from trade information office Graydon Belgium.

Last month, 916 companies in Belgium went bankrupt, a decrease of 14% compared to the same month last year. "The number of bankruptcies is still too high," said Eric Van den Broele of Graydon Belgium in Trends. “But the good news is that the number has decreased for the 11th month in a row, when comparing each month to the same month of the previous year. The bankruptcy rate is back under 0.9% for the first time since the outbreak of the economic crisis.”

The situation appears to be improving across the country. Last month in Flanders there were 434 bankruptcies (-23.19% compared to 2014), in Brussels there were 156 bankruptcies (the same as in 2014) and in Wallonia there were 315 cases (-9.74%). This significant decrease can be seen across all provinces, with the exception of Walloon Brabant.

Graydon noted an overall improvement in the various sectors, especially hospitality (-17.9%), wholesale (-13.5%), construction (-9.3%), retail (-18%) and business services (-15.9%). There was an increase, however, in the number of bankruptcies registered last month in transport (+8.8%) and motor trade (+4.4%).