Business succession index · 🇧🇪 Belgium

Business succession in East Flanders

Of 97,075 active companies in East Flanders, 12.1% have been registered for 30 years or more (Belgium: 13.4%).

97,075

Active companies

12.1%

Registered 30+ years

13.4%

Belgium average

Industries

Industry	Code	Companies	30 yrs+	%
Membership organisations	94	749	255	34%
Wholesale trade	46	5,384	1,470	27.3%
Food products	10	806	212	26.3%
Printing and reproduction	18	358	92	25.7%
Real estate activities	68	5,748	1,310	22.8%
Warehousing and support	52	544	121	22.2%
Fabricated metal products	25	929	203	21.9%
Sports and recreation	93	1,897	376	19.8%
Retail trade	47	7,028	1,384	19.7%
Social work	88	385	74	19.2%
Land transport	49	1,991	353	17.7%
Repair of computers and personal goods	95	975	168	17.2%
Accommodation	55	473	79	16.7%
Rental and leasing	77	690	104	15.1%
Auxiliary financial services	66	1,147	170	14.8%
Education	85	1,257	179	14.2%
Crop and animal production	01	1,927	270	14%
Construction of buildings	41	2,698	346	12.8%
Food and beverage service	56	4,664	529	11.3%
Legal and accounting activities	69	3,533	367	10.4%
Specialised construction activities	43	10,092	1,015	10.1%
Other personal service activities	96	1,550	150	9.7%
Civil engineering	42	935	81	8.7%
Creative, arts and entertainment	90	1,768	153	8.7%
Services to buildings and landscape	81	1,639	129	7.9%
Financial services	64	4,130	300	7.3%
Office administrative and support	82	3,474	252	7.3%
Advertising and market research	73	2,067	147	7.1%
Architecture and engineering	71	3,167	220	6.9%
Motion picture and sound production	59	526	35	6.7%
Head offices and management consultancy	70	10,870	605	5.6%
Information services	63	660	35	5.3%
Other professional and technical activities	74	1,329	68	5.1%
Human health activities	86	4,982	238	4.8%
Repair and installation of machinery	33	604	28	4.6%
Employment activities	78	326	14	4.3%
Computer programming and consultancy	62	5,367	158	2.9%
Veterinary activities	75	406	9	2.2%

By trade in East Flanders

Trade	Companies	%
Management consultancy	10,861	5.6%
IT consultancy and support	3,734	1.7%
Restaurants and takeaways	3,079	8.1%
Building contractors	2,693	12.8%
GP and specialist medical practices	2,434	4.1%
Business support services	2,375	6.2%
Landlords and property letting	2,083	35.5%
Advertising, PR and marketing agencies	2,067	7.1%
Electricians	2,067	6.3%
Law firms	1,959	3.4%
Physiotherapy and other health services	1,820	4.6%
Joiners and carpenters	1,776	13.6%
Performing arts	1,767	8.7%
Software development	1,630	5.9%
Architects	1,600	4.9%
Accountants and bookkeepers	1,574	19.1%
Gyms, sports clubs and facilities	1,446	23.2%
Plumbing and heating engineers	1,422	11.7%
Road haulage	1,409	19.9%
Engineering consultancy	1,374	9%
Property developers	1,369	10.4%
Bricklaying, scaffolding and specialist trades	1,263	9.4%
Wholesale agents and brokers	1,221	10.5%
Household goods and clothing wholesalers	1,133	32.7%
Supermarkets and convenience stores	1,120	10.1%
Estate agents	1,104	19.5%
Training providers and tutoring	1,045	6.2%
Livestock farming	1,034	14.1%
Butchers, greengrocers and food shops	1,019	11%
Pubs and bars	984	18.7%
Civil engineering contractors	935	8.7%
Hairdressers and beauty salons	893	4.9%
Property trading	876	13.1%
Landscaping and gardening	854	8%
Demolition and groundworks	852	8.1%
Car and van dealers	846	28%
Pharmacies and medical retail	846	25.9%
Garages and vehicle repair	830	18.6%
Fuel, metals and building materials wholesalers	789	36.8%
Food and drink wholesalers	757	29.9%
Office support and call centres	721	10%
Roofers	717	8.6%
Clothing and shoe shops	697	22%
Cleaning companies	696	5.2%
Machinery and equipment wholesalers	687	36.2%
Dental practices	686	6.7%
Arable farming	684	14%
Hosting, data and web portals	659	5.3%
Insurance brokers	653	18.7%
Painters and decorators	623	13.5%
Metal fabrication	618	22.2%
Plastering and building finishing	606	6.6%
Machinery repair and installation	603	4.6%
Event caterers and contract catering	601	15.8%
Film, TV, radio and music production	570	9.1%
Equipment and plant hire	512	15.2%
Furniture and homeware shops	495	23.2%
Financial advisers and fund managers	494	9.7%
Design studios	469	5.1%
Wellness and other personal services	463	10.4%
Taxi and private hire firms	459	11.3%
Amusement and leisure	451	9.1%
Other professional services	439	3%
Freight forwarding and logistics services	438	16.9%
Veterinary practices	406	2.2%
Flooring and tiling	390	14.1%
Home care and social care	385	19.2%
Opticians, galleries and other specialist shops	380	25.3%
Insulation and other building installation	363	12.9%
Printers	358	25.7%
Event and conference organisers	352	8.8%
Bakeries	340	20.9%
Electronics and appliance shops	330	26.4%
Recruitment agencies	326	4.3%
Property management	315	31.4%
Sports and toy shops	303	12.9%
Hardware and DIY shops	292	28.1%
Holiday lets, hostels and campsites	285	15.8%
Food manufacturing	268	33.6%
Photographers	259	10%
Agricultural wholesalers	254	30.7%

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.