The Belgian IT companies, which are active in hardware and software, telecom and services, were good for 71.7 billion euros in turnover and 130,000 jobs last year. Turnover grew by only 1.9 percent, the lowest figure in ten years and even less than in the Corona year 2020. Employment deteriorated 1.3 percent, apart from telecom in all IT subsectors. This is according to figures from Agoria, the umbrella organization of the Belgian technology industry, De Tijd writes on Wednesday.
Bron: BELGIAN
The figures are exceptional, according to Agoria CEO Bart Steukers. “In 2014-2023 we created an average of 3,000 jobs per year in the sector. Last year we lost 1,750. The number of bankruptcies was not far above the average, but the number of lost jobs, “he says. “2023 was also less good,” he continues in the newspaper. “The sector was pulled by the difficulties in the industry. We have been saying for a long time that the problems in the manufacturing industry will have an impact on the digital industry. That begins to convert into the numbers. “
Yet it is not all bad and seepage. Figures from 2021 learn that the Belgian IT sector is the most productive of the European Union. “With 2.3 percent of all jobs, we have realized 9 percent of the growth of gross domestic product in Belgium in recent years,” says Steukers. Agoria expects improvement for the tech sector and counts for this year on sales growth of 3.4 percent and more or less a status quo for employment (-0.1 percent).