Business failures on the rise

9 December 2004

BRUSSELS – The number of Belgian businesses going bankrupt rose in November, new figures have shown.

The results, released by the National Institute of Statistics, reveal 696 bankruptcies last month, compared to 588 in November 2003.

The figures confirmed a similar study carried out by the study bureau Graydon.

Over the past three months, the number of bankruptcies registered has been 2 264, seven percent more than the same period in 2003.

During this period the number of businesses going under rose by 9.8 percent and the number of activities in the transport sector by 4.2 percent.

The industrial sector saw a fall of 9.6 percent in bankruptcies and the construction industry by 3.1 percent.

On a regional level, a rise of 2.6 percent was recorded in Flanders, 7.5 percent in Wallonia, and 21.9 percent in Brussels.

Subject: Belgian news