© Hollandse Hoogte / Roger Dohmen Photography
In January this year, 156 companies went bankrupt in the province of Antwerp. That is more than 30 percent more than two years ago. The increase occurs in almost all major sectors.
In January 2022, 120 companies went bankrupt in the province of Antwerp. In January 2024 there were 156. That is the second highest number of bankruptcies in the last seven years. The wave of bankruptcies is also continuing in Flanders. In January this year, 544 companies went bankrupt in Flanders. That is even 51 percent more than two years ago.
The wave of bankruptcies is occurring in all major sectors, but the construction sector has been taking the cake for some time now. In January this year, 31 construction companies went bankrupt in the province of Antwerp. That is the highest number since 2014.
“In addition to high energy prices, companies are confronted with generally high cost inflation. Due to automatic wage indexation, wage costs have increased by 20 to 25 percent at many companies, while the number of employees has remained the same,” says Tom Simonts, senior economist at KBC. “Anyone who had a small profit margin before wage indexation is now facing a loss.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE (+). More bankruptcies in all major sectors: what do experts say? And why isn’t there immediate improvement?
2024-02-06 05:30:15
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