Almost three in ten Belgian factory machines idle as capacity use hits 73%

Capacity use falls to its lowest level since 2020

The National Bank of Belgium (BNB) published an update on Tuesday, 27 October, showing that capacity utilisation in manufacturing dropped to 73% in the third quarter of 2026. That is the lowest reading since April 2020, when the coronavirus crisis began. French-language reporting gives the figure as 73.1%. Across recent months, an average of 27% of machines in Belgian industry stood still. Only four quarters since data collection began in the late 1980s were lower, and apart from the coronavirus period, the last comparable low came in 2008-2009 during the financial crisis. Utilisation now sits almost 4 percentage points below its 2021 to 2025 average.

Flanders75.3%

Wallonia67.1%

Flanders

75.3 %

Wallonia

67.1 %

Data from the article text

Flanders and Wallonia diverge

Flanders uses 75.3% of its available capacity, while Wallonia reaches only 67.1%. According to French-language outlets, the BNB publishes no figures for Brussels. In Flanders the rate sits just 1.3 percentage points below its long-term average, whereas in the south the latest measurement lies more than 10 percentage points below the average of the past 10 years. The metal industry, iron and steel processing, construction materials and machine building stand out as the hardest-hit sectors. Employment in industry as a whole stood at 538,500 people in the second quarter of this year, 8,200 fewer than a year earlier.

Chemicals and the energy bill

Vynova in Tessenderlo-Ham announced on Tuesday, 27 October, that it will temporarily halt production because of high energy prices, and 600 employees are at risk of temporary unemployment. A study by consultancy Roland Berger found that European chemical capacity fell 9% between 2022 and 2025, and only 69 to 70% of the reduced capacity is currently being used. Gert Verreth, spokesperson for the chemicals federation Essenscia, put the situation bluntly:

“It is gradually becoming clear that this crisis is more severe than the previous one.”

Industry warnings and job losses

Patrick Slaets, chief economist at the metal and technology federation Agoria, says the sector has run below 80% capacity utilisation for four years. He blames weak demand, high interest rates driven by inflation and energy costs linked to the geopolitical situation, which hit energy-intensive companies hardest. Slaets warns that falling utilisation also raises the risk of job losses. In the technology sector, 20,000 jobs have already gone over the past three years, which he equates to a 6 to 7% reduction in capacity compared with pre-crisis levels. Sector federations are therefore calling for measures against high costs.

“If the machines aren't running, there's no need for people to work there.”

Budget talks and the Voka centenary

On Wednesday, 28 October, Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) convenes his core cabinet at 19:00 for another attempt to reach a budget agreement. The same evening Voka marks its centenary at the Antwerp Stock Exchange, where King Philippe and Flemish minister-president Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) were expected to attend. De Wever will be absent. Belgium had to borrow 1.3 billion euro on Monday, 26 October, at the highest interest rate in fifteen years. De Wever once joked about the business federation in 2010, when he negotiated with Elio Di Rupo as N-VA chairman:

“Voka is my real boss. If Voka is not satisfied, I am not satisfied.”