Belgium | Listed domestic companies, total
Listed domestic companies, including foreign companies which are exclusively listed, are those which have shares listed on an exchange at the end of the year. Investment funds, unit trusts, and companies whose only business goal is to hold shares of other listed companies, such as holding companies and investment companies, regardless of their legal status, are excluded. A company with several classes of shares is counted once. Only companies admitted to listing on the exchange are included. Development relevance: Stock market size can be measured in various ways, and each may produce a different ranking of countries. The development of an economy's financial markets is closely related to its overall development. Well-functioning financial systems provide good and easily accessible information which can lower transaction costs and subsequently improve resource allocation and boosts economic growth. Both banking systems and stock markets enhance growth, the main factor in poverty reduction. At low levels of economic development commercial banks tend to dominate the financial system, while at higher levels domestic stock markets tend to become more active and efficient relative to domestic banks. Open economies with sound macroeconomic policies, good legal systems, and shareholder protection attract capital and therefore have larger financial markets. Recent research on stock market development shows that modern communications technology and increased financial integration have resulted in more cross-border capital flows, a stronger presence of financial firms around the world, and the migration of stock exchange activities to international exchanges. Many firms in emerging markets now cross-list on international exchanges, which provides them with lower cost capital and more liquidity-traded shares. However, this also means that exchanges in emerging markets may not have enough financial activity to sustain them, putting pressure on them to rethink their operations. Limitations and exceptions: Data cover measures of size (market capitalization, number of listed domestic companies) and liquidity (value of shares traded as a percentage of gross domestic product, value of shares traded as a percentage of market capitalization). The comparability of such data across countries may be limited by conceptual and statistical weaknesses, such as inaccurate reporting and differences in accounting standards. Statistical concept and methodology: A company is considered domestic when it is incorporated in the same country as where the exchange is located. The only exception is the case of foreign companies which are exclusively listed on an exchange (i.e., the foreign company is not listed on any other exchange as defined in the domestic market capitalization definition).
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Kingdom of Belgium
Records
63
Source
Belgium | Listed domestic companies, total
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
290 1975
277 1976
253 1977
239 1978
231 1979
225 1980
218 1981
212 1982
204 1983
197 1984
192 1985
191 1986
192 1987
186 1988
190 1989
182 1990
183 1991
171 1992
165 1993
162 1994
150 1995
143 1996
138 1997
156 1998
159 1999
161 2000
159 2001
148 2002
145 2003
141 2004
138 2005
137 2006
135 2007
131 2008
128 2009
124 2010
120 2011
118 2012
117 2013
113 2014
117 2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Belgium | Listed domestic companies, total
Listed domestic companies, including foreign companies which are exclusively listed, are those which have shares listed on an exchange at the end of the year. Investment funds, unit trusts, and companies whose only business goal is to hold shares of other listed companies, such as holding companies and investment companies, regardless of their legal status, are excluded. A company with several classes of shares is counted once. Only companies admitted to listing on the exchange are included. Development relevance: Stock market size can be measured in various ways, and each may produce a different ranking of countries. The development of an economy's financial markets is closely related to its overall development. Well-functioning financial systems provide good and easily accessible information which can lower transaction costs and subsequently improve resource allocation and boosts economic growth. Both banking systems and stock markets enhance growth, the main factor in poverty reduction. At low levels of economic development commercial banks tend to dominate the financial system, while at higher levels domestic stock markets tend to become more active and efficient relative to domestic banks. Open economies with sound macroeconomic policies, good legal systems, and shareholder protection attract capital and therefore have larger financial markets. Recent research on stock market development shows that modern communications technology and increased financial integration have resulted in more cross-border capital flows, a stronger presence of financial firms around the world, and the migration of stock exchange activities to international exchanges. Many firms in emerging markets now cross-list on international exchanges, which provides them with lower cost capital and more liquidity-traded shares. However, this also means that exchanges in emerging markets may not have enough financial activity to sustain them, putting pressure on them to rethink their operations. Limitations and exceptions: Data cover measures of size (market capitalization, number of listed domestic companies) and liquidity (value of shares traded as a percentage of gross domestic product, value of shares traded as a percentage of market capitalization). The comparability of such data across countries may be limited by conceptual and statistical weaknesses, such as inaccurate reporting and differences in accounting standards. Statistical concept and methodology: A company is considered domestic when it is incorporated in the same country as where the exchange is located. The only exception is the case of foreign companies which are exclusively listed on an exchange (i.e., the foreign company is not listed on any other exchange as defined in the domestic market capitalization definition).
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Kingdom of Belgium
Records
63
Source