Business succession index · 🇧🇪 Belgium

Business succession in West Flanders

Of 83,795 active companies in West Flanders, 14% have been registered for 30 years or more (Belgium: 13.4%).

83,795

Active companies

14%

Registered 30+ years

13.4%

Belgium average

Industries

Industry	Code	Companies	30 yrs+	%
Textiles	13	337	167	49.6%
Membership organisations	94	584	249	42.6%
Machinery and equipment n.e.c.	28	312	115	36.9%
Printing and reproduction	18	283	79	27.9%
Wholesale trade	46	5,302	1,385	26.1%
Warehousing and support	52	327	82	25.1%
Food products	10	777	194	25%
Real estate activities	68	6,276	1,567	25%
Land transport	49	1,725	417	24.2%
Sports and recreation	93	1,800	392	21.8%
Accommodation	55	959	206	21.5%
Fabricated metal products	25	1,135	231	20.4%
Retail trade	47	6,588	1,343	20.4%
Social work	88	336	63	18.8%
Rental and leasing	77	580	106	18.3%
Civil engineering	42	322	58	18%
Crop and animal production	01	2,692	466	17.3%
Auxiliary financial services	66	1,071	183	17.1%
Education	85	882	151	17.1%
Repair of computers and personal goods	95	878	133	15.1%
Construction of buildings	41	2,125	296	13.9%
Other personal service activities	96	1,179	151	12.8%
Food and beverage service	56	4,428	456	10.3%
Specialised construction activities	43	8,853	882	10%
Creative, arts and entertainment	90	856	83	9.7%
Office administrative and support	82	2,788	261	9.4%
Legal and accounting activities	69	2,674	249	9.3%
Repair and installation of machinery	33	600	53	8.8%
Advertising and market research	73	1,347	117	8.7%
Head offices and management consultancy	70	8,356	665	8%
Services to buildings and landscape	81	1,397	104	7.4%
Architecture and engineering	71	2,234	156	7%
Financial services	64	5,102	347	6.8%
Other professional and technical activities	74	899	51	5.7%
Employment activities	78	250	14	5.6%
Information services	63	403	20	5%
Computer programming and consultancy	62	2,506	98	3.9%
Human health activities	86	4,265	153	3.6%
Veterinary activities	75	367	9	2.5%

By trade in West Flanders

Trade	Companies	%
Management consultancy	8,351	8%
Restaurants and takeaways	3,198	8.4%
Landlords and property letting	2,189	35.1%
Building contractors	2,123	13.9%
GP and specialist medical practices	2,025	3.3%
Joiners and carpenters	1,881	12.4%
Electricians	1,868	7%
Business support services	1,748	8.5%
Physiotherapy and other health services	1,711	2.9%
IT consultancy and support	1,621	1.9%
Property developers	1,607	12.8%
Livestock farming	1,555	20.5%
Law firms	1,393	3.2%
Gyms, sports clubs and facilities	1,381	25%
Wholesale agents and brokers	1,359	11%
Road haulage	1,351	26.5%
Advertising, PR and marketing agencies	1,347	8.7%
Accountants and bookkeepers	1,281	15.9%
Plumbing and heating engineers	1,251	12%
Architects	1,205	5.8%
Estate agents	1,198	21.2%
Butchers, greengrocers and food shops	1,141	9%
Arable farming	986	13.1%
Household goods and clothing wholesalers	960	32.3%
Engineering consultancy	887	8.7%
Software development	885	7.6%
Bricklaying, scaffolding and specialist trades	883	10%
Supermarkets and convenience stores	880	15.6%
Car and van dealers	860	23.7%
Property trading	858	16%
Performing arts	855	9.7%
Pharmacies and medical retail	799	28.4%
Food and drink wholesalers	798	27.9%
Pubs and bars	771	14.4%
Fuel, metals and building materials wholesalers	764	34.2%
Painters and decorators	758	9.1%
Garages and vehicle repair	744	15.6%
Training providers and tutoring	716	8.8%
Metal fabrication	710	19.2%
Landscaping and gardening	709	6.9%
Clothing and shoe shops	692	22.1%
Office support and call centres	672	11.5%
Hairdressers and beauty salons	639	7.4%
Machinery and equipment wholesalers	634	30%
Cleaning companies	616	4.9%
Machinery repair and installation	600	8.8%
Insurance brokers	589	22.8%
Holiday lets, hostels and campsites	587	18.6%
Roofers	537	10.2%
Demolition and groundworks	493	13.4%
Dental practices	493	4.9%
Plastering and building finishing	491	6.7%
Financial advisers and fund managers	482	10.2%
Event caterers and contract catering	457	16.6%
Flooring and tiling	446	8.7%
Equipment and plant hire	436	17.4%
Property management	424	47.4%
Amusement and leisure	419	11.2%
Furniture and homeware shops	419	28.9%
Hosting, data and web portals	403	5%
Opticians, galleries and other specialist shops	402	20.1%
Hotels	370	26.2%
Veterinary practices	367	2.5%
Wellness and other personal services	360	13.6%
Design studios	354	2.8%
Event and conference organisers	348	10.1%
Textiles and clothing manufacturing	337	49.6%
Home care and social care	336	18.8%
Food manufacturing	328	35.1%
Bakeries	322	12.1%
Civil engineering contractors	322	18%
Machinery manufacturing	308	36.7%
Electronics and appliance shops	308	26.6%
Agricultural wholesalers	298	43.6%
Taxi and private hire firms	285	15.8%
Printers	283	27.9%
Other professional services	280	3.6%
Sports and toy shops	268	20.5%
Freight forwarding and logistics services	252	22.2%
Recruitment agencies	250	5.6%

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.