Belgium: what do Statbel and the CBE show for NACE-BEL 2025?

Belgium uses NACE-BEL 2025, the Belgian classification of activities, and the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, CBE, shows the conversion from the 2008 version to the 2025 version on public record pages. A CBE public record page states that activities registered with a NACE-BEL code, 2008 version, were stopped on 31 December 2024 (FIXED), and automatically converted to NACE-BEL codes, 2025 version, and that the conversion was a mere administrative conversion with no modification of the activity itself.

The same page shows activities with a version label of 2025 and a start date of 1 January 2025 (FIXED), for the converted activities. Those statements are the verified facts for this guide, taken from a Belgian government register page. No Statbel timetable page, and no Statbel methodology text, was fetched for this work, and this guide therefore states no Statbel timetable. A reader who needs the Statbel methodology should check the Statbel methodology page for NACE-BEL 2025 directly, rather than relying on a secondary summary.

What does the CBE conversion note show?

The CBE conversion note shows three things: the old activities were stopped, the new activities were created by automatic conversion, and the activity itself was not modified. The note distinguishes the administrative conversion from a change in the activity. That distinction matters, because a reader who sees a new code on a record after 1 January 2025 (FIXED) might conclude that the business changed what it does. The note states the opposite: the conversion was administrative, and the activity was not modified. The note also shows the earlier conversion, from the 2003 version to the 2008 version, with the same wording: activities were stopped on 31 December 2007 (FIXED), automatically converted to the 2008 version, and registered with a start date of 1 January 2008 (FIXED), as a mere administrative conversion. The pattern repeats. Each version change rewrites the code on the record, without, on its own, changing the activity. A reader should therefore read a CBE record with its version and its start date, and should not infer an activity change from a code change alone.

Version change	Old activities stopped	New activities start	Character stated on the record
2003 to 2008	31 December 2007 (FIXED)	1 January 2008 (FIXED)	Mere administrative conversion
2008 to 2025	31 December 2024 (FIXED)	1 January 2025 (FIXED)	Mere administrative conversion

The table above follows the CBE record note. It states the conversion dates as shown on the record. It states no procedure for checking or correcting an entry, because no procedure was stated on the record page fetched for this work, beyond the general statement on the Belgian economy site that entries should be checked and corrected where needed. A reader who needs the correction procedure should check the CBE pages that state it, rather than assuming one.

How does NACE-BEL 2025 relate to NACE Rev. 2.1?

NACE-BEL 2025 is the Belgian national version of NACE Rev. 2.1. National versions build on the European structure, so that statistics collected in different member states can be compared. The European structure has 22 sections, 87 divisions, 287 groups and 651 classes (FIXED, as adopted). Belgian headings follow that structure at the shared levels, and add Belgian detail below the shared levels where Statbel publishes it. This guide does not list Belgian subclasses or counts, because no subclass list or count was verified on a Statbel page fetched for this work, and a figure copied from a secondary summary could misstate the Belgian detail. A reader should check the shared levels in Eurostat documents and the Belgian detail on the Statbel methodology page together. The European documents show the common backbone. The Statbel documents show the Belgian headings.

How should a Belgian code be checked?

A Belgian code should be checked in the CBE record for the entry, in the Statbel methodology and structure for the heading, and in the Eurostat correspondence table for the movement between versions. The CBE record shows the entry with its version and start date. The Statbel material shows the meaning of the heading. The Eurostat table shows the movement. No single check procedure was verified for this guide beyond the CBE record note and the general instruction to check and correct entries, and this guide does not assert a detailed procedure. A reader who needs the entry for a specific entity should check the CBE record, using the entity number, and should ask the CBE or Statbel through the channels they state where the record is unclear. A code found in a dataset should be read with its version, its reference period, and its source stated, because a bare code is ambiguous after a revision.

What does a NACE-BEL code not decide?

A NACE-BEL code does not decide any question about a specific business beyond its statistical description. It does not decide tax, social security, licensing, funding or collective agreement questions. The EUR-Lex summary states that the European legislation only applies to statistical purposes. The CBE note states that the conversion was administrative, with no modification of the activity itself, which reinforces the same limit: a code change on a record does not change the activity, and it does not change any decision made by another body. The entry for a specific entity is confirmed with Statbel or the CBE that holds the record. This site holds no register and decides no entry.

The CBE shows the 2008 codes stopped on 31 December 2024 (FIXED) and converted to 2025 codes from 1 January 2025 (FIXED) as an administrative conversion, and Statbel is where the Belgian headings and methodology are checked.