Deputy and POM Chair Tom Vandeput concludes and underlines the importance of self-employed workers and SMEs for the Limburg economy: “Their strength lies in the combination of local entrepreneurship and broad economic impact. The Limburg economy relies on tens of thousands of entrepreneurs who, together with their employees, create value every day in their sector and municipality. By supporting them with a strong entrepreneurial climate, we give the Limburg economy a future.”
Self-Employed Workers and SMEs Together Account for 200,000 Jobs
Entrepreneurial strength in Limburg is at a peak: for the first time, our province counts more than 100,000 self-employed workers, 60,000 of whom are in full-time self-employment. In addition, more than 21,500 SMEs are active in the province, accounting for nearly 95% of all enterprises with staff in Limburg. These SMEs are responsible for more than 135,000 jobs. Impressive figures collected by the Provincial Development Agency (POM) Limburg at the request of UNIZO Limburg. Self-employed entrepreneurs and SMEs together form one Limburg engine of growth and employment.
Self-employed workers in full-time self-employment and jobs in paid employment within SMEs together account for more than 200,000 jobs in Limburg. That is more than half (54%) of total employment in the province. Moreover, that share is significantly above the average share of self-employed workers and SMEs in total employment in Flanders (51%).
“SMEs and the self-employed are the strong backbone of our economy,” says Tom Vandeput, Deputy for Economy and Chair of POM Limburg. “They form the foundation on which Limburg builds sustainable employment and local prosperity. Even in these challenging times, the number of self-employed workers and SME jobs in Limburg continues to grow more strongly than the average in Flanders. This once again demonstrates the agility and resilience of Limburg’s entrepreneurs.”
UNIZO and POM Limburg are communicating these figures on the occasion of the Day of the Entrepreneur on Friday 21 November 2025. Bart Lodewyckx, Managing Director of UNIZO Limburg: “This special day is dedicated to all entrepreneurs who, with their perseverance, innovation and courage, strengthen the economy and prosperity of Limburg. It is no coincidence that the Day of the Entrepreneur originated in Limburg in 2013.”
Record Number of Self-Employed Workers
At the end of 2024, exactly 101,422 self-employed workers were active in Limburg, the highest number ever. More than 60,000 of them carried out their self-employed activity as their main occupation, 28,670 as a secondary occupation and 12,600 Limburg residents were active as self-employed after reaching retirement age. The number of self-employed workers in main occupation increased in Limburg by 9.4% between 2019 and 2024.
In Flanders as a whole, the growth amounted to 9.2%. In relative terms, however, Limburg still has fewer self-employed workers in main occupation among the population aged 20 to 64. This so-called entrepreneurial rate is 11.6% in Limburg and 12.8% in Flanders. Limburg even has the lowest entrepreneurial rate of all Flemish provinces.
One in five self-employed workers in main occupation in Limburg is active in trade. This is followed by the liberal professions and scientific activities (17%), the construction sector (13%) and hospitality (9%). The strongest growth comes from the liberal professions, which saw the number of self-employed workers in main occupation in Limburg increase by 27% over the past five years.
Limburg Shows Strongest Job Growth in SMEs
At the end of 2023, Limburg counted a total of 22,635 establishments of enterprises employing staff. Of these, 95% (21,442 enterprises) have fewer than 50 employees. This means the SME share in Limburg is exactly the same as the average in Flanders. The growth in the number of SMEs between 2018 and 2023 was also more or less equal in Limburg (+2.5%) and in Flanders (+2.9%).
Together, these SMEs accounted at the end of 2023 for 136,654 Limburg jobs in paid employment, corresponding to a share of 45% of paid employment in our province. That is more than the average in Flanders, where SMEs account for 41% of total employment. Only in West Flanders do SMEs have an equally large share in employment as in Limburg (45%). In Flemish Brabant their share is the lowest (37%).
Employment in Limburg SMEs increased by just under 7,000 jobs between 2018 and 2023, or a rise of 5.4%. This means employment in Limburg SMEs grew more strongly than the average in Flanders (+4.7%). Within Flanders, Limburg is also the province with the strongest SME job growth over the past five years.
Trade also dominates among SMEs. Nearly 1 in 4 Limburg SMEs (23%) is active in retail and wholesale trade. Together, they are moreover responsible for more than one-fifth of total SME employment in Limburg. Other typical SME sectors are construction and hospitality. A smaller share of establishments, but with a significant contribution to SME jobs, is provided by industry: the sector accounts for only 7% of SME establishments, but for more than 10% of SME jobs. That is more than the average in Flanders. Construction is also relatively more strongly represented in Limburg than in Flanders.
Significant Impact
“Entrepreneurs are indispensable in our society. They provide not only jobs and progress, but also pride, social cohesion and meaning. Limburg breathes entrepreneurship, as the figures show,” says Bart Lodewyckx. “Self-employed workers do not wait for someone to give them opportunities, but create them themselves. That is our true wealth: no gold in the ground, but courage in the people. They are the ones who carry our economy, despite the many obstacles and the difficult entrepreneurial landscape. If we want this country to move forward, we must learn again to look through the eyes of those who undertake. Whoever invests in Limburg’s growth must therefore first and foremost invest in the self-employed entrepreneur and the SME.”
