Business succession index · 🇧🇪 Belgium

Business succession in Brussels

Of 85,200 active companies in Brussels, 13.6% have been registered for 30 years or more (Belgium: 13.4%).

85,200

Active companies

13.6%

Registered 30+ years

13.4%

Belgium average

Industries

Industry	Code	Companies	30 yrs+	%
Public administration and defence	84	299	166	55.5%
Residential care	87	278	153	55%
Social work	88	853	342	40.1%
Membership organisations	94	3,048	1,090	35.8%
Real estate activities	68	5,996	1,864	31.1%
Accommodation	55	440	121	27.5%
Wholesale trade	46	4,068	1,017	25%
Education	85	1,623	401	24.7%
Publishing	58	441	96	21.8%
Sports and recreation	93	996	197	19.8%
Repair of computers and personal goods	95	705	134	19%
Auxiliary financial services	66	715	134	18.7%
Scientific research and development	72	284	53	18.7%
Rental and leasing	77	365	61	16.7%
Advertising and market research	73	2,894	477	16.5%
Food products	10	425	57	13.4%
Land transport	49	3,071	406	13.2%
Financial services	64	1,406	184	13.1%
Retail trade	47	8,343	1,084	13%
Creative, arts and entertainment	90	2,125	277	13%
Employment activities	78	317	39	12.3%
Motion picture and sound production	59	1,246	152	12.2%
Office administrative and support	82	2,393	273	11.4%
Warehousing and support	52	357	40	11.2%
Architecture and engineering	71	2,366	242	10.2%
Other personal service activities	96	1,809	168	9.3%
Services to buildings and landscape	81	1,372	121	8.8%
Specialised construction activities	43	4,984	409	8.2%
Other professional and technical activities	74	1,104	83	7.5%
Food and beverage service	56	5,568	400	7.2%
Information services	63	507	35	6.9%
Construction of buildings	41	1,586	108	6.8%
Legal and accounting activities	69	4,938	334	6.8%
Human health activities	86	2,965	203	6.8%
Head offices and management consultancy	70	9,464	490	5.2%
Postal and courier activities	53	413	15	3.6%
Computer programming and consultancy	62	5,436	181	3.3%

By trade in Brussels

Trade	Companies	%
Management consultancy	9,462	5.2%
Restaurants and takeaways	3,928	7.4%
Law firms	3,763	2.8%
IT consultancy and support	3,718	3%
Advertising, PR and marketing agencies	2,894	16.5%
Supermarkets and convenience stores	2,170	4.3%
Performing arts	2,123	13%
Landlords and property letting	2,005	30.5%
Software development	1,717	4%
Building contractors	1,586	6.8%
Taxi and private hire firms	1,576	19.9%
Bricklaying, scaffolding and specialist trades	1,532	3.9%
Architects	1,490	9.1%
GP and specialist medical practices	1,449	6.1%
Film, TV, radio and music production	1,311	13%
Pubs and bars	1,296	6.1%
Training providers and tutoring	1,256	16.3%
Estate agents	1,199	24.1%
Accountants and bookkeepers	1,175	19.6%
Road haulage	1,174	4.2%
Property management	1,146	62.8%
Cleaning companies	1,135	7%
Hairdressers and beauty salons	1,100	5.6%
Business support services	1,090	8.8%
Household goods and clothing wholesalers	1,084	30.2%
Butchers, greengrocers and food shops	994	8.7%
Wholesale agents and brokers	947	15.3%
Clothing and shoe shops	930	15.1%
Home care and social care	853	40.1%
Property developers	836	18.1%
Property trading	810	11.5%
Dental practices	775	4.1%
Electricians	774	8.3%
Engineering consultancy	763	11.8%
Pharmacies and medical retail	713	16.1%
Food and drink wholesalers	708	17.9%
Physiotherapy and other health services	690	9.4%
Event and conference organisers	669	13%
Car and van dealers	651	18.7%
Gyms, sports clubs and facilities	649	23.1%
Office support and call centres	617	14.6%
Opticians, galleries and other specialist shops	612	22.7%
Plumbing and heating engineers	598	13.4%
Plastering and building finishing	521	7.9%
Garages and vehicle repair	507	21.3%
Hosting, data and web portals	505	6.9%
Furniture and homeware shops	498	26.5%
Wellness and other personal services	487	8.8%
Bookshops, newsagents and music shops	474	15.4%
Fuel, metals and building materials wholesalers	469	30.1%
Insulation and other building installation	463	8.9%
Couriers and postal services	413	3.6%
Design studios	404	6.4%
Publishers and news agencies	394	27.9%
Electronics and appliance shops	387	11.1%
Insurance brokers	367	25.9%
Financial advisers and fund managers	348	11.2%
Amusement and leisure	347	13.5%
Event caterers and contract catering	342	8.5%
Demolition and groundworks	331	2.7%
Other professional services	327	2.4%
Joiners and carpenters	323	11.8%
Recruitment agencies	317	12.3%
Freight forwarding and logistics services	311	11.6%
Hotels	286	26.2%
Machinery and equipment wholesalers	279	46.2%
Care homes	278	55%
Schools and colleges	268	68.7%
Bakeries	258	10.9%
Equipment and plant hire	253	18.2%

Methodology

Share of ACTIVE companies with a recorded industry code that have been registered for 30 years or more. A long unchanged registration is an indicator of an approaching handover, not a statement that any company is for sale. Divisions with fewer than 50 companies are omitted, as are divisions where fewer than 5 companies carry the signal.

Per region, only industries with at least 250 companies are shown. Source: The KBO licence (Art (snapshot 2026-10-15), licensed under KBO/BCE open data.

Aggregates only — no individual company is ever shown publicly with a succession indicator.