More Belgians are once again consciously opting for a Belgian web address or .be domain name: in 2025, the number of new registrations rose by over 7.500, despite a record number of bankruptcies in Belgium. This is evident from the annual figures released by DNS Belgium, which helps to ensure the smooth running of the internet in our country. The local variations are striking: municipalities such as Zwalm, Sint-Martens-Latem, Schilde and Floreffe have a high number of .be websites per 100 inhabitants. Finally, the Belgian web is becoming increasingly secure. In 2025, administrator DNS Belgium had to revoke 20% fewer malicious websites.
In total, 207,776 new .be domain names were registered last year. That is around 7.500 more than in 2024. The increase is striking, as 2025 was not an easy year economically. Belgium recorded 11,665 bankruptcies last year, an increase of 5.4 per cent compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the number of new businesses also reached a record high: 132,199 companies were registered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.
The importance of having your own website is growing
According to DNS Belgium, the non-profit organisation that manages Belgian domain names, the fact that more Belgians are once again consciously choosing a .be domain shows just how important having an online presence has become for the self-employed, start-ups and businesses.
Philip Du Bois, managing director of DNS Belgium: “Anyone starting a business usually wants to be visible online straight away. Social media and platforms such as Bol or Amazon have become popular in recent years for selling or gaining visibility. But that often makes them highly dependent on the rules and algorithms of large technology platforms. It is encouraging to see that people are once again recognising the importance of having their own website. After all, with your own domain name and website, you build a degree of digital autonomy. It is a place on the internet that is truly your own. Moreover, AI systems such as ChatGPT and Claude mainly source their information from websites. So, anyone who wants to be found online in the future would still be best advised to invest in their own digital space.”
By the end of 2025, there were a total of 1.701.999 active .be domain names. That is slightly fewer than a year earlier. This decline is mainly due to one major foreign food delivery platform operator removing more than 5.000 inactive domain names from its portfolio. The number of .be domains registered by Belgians, on the other hand, rose slightly.
Philip Du Bois, general manager DNS Belgium
20% fewer suspicious domain names revoked
Despite the fact that we are inundated with fake online shops and AI scams, DNS Belgium once again had to revoke fewer domain names due to suspicious activity last year. The number of domains revoked fell by 20% last year: from 1.679 in 2024 to 1.346 in 2025. In addition, around 200 websites were blocked last year in collaboration with the government.
According to DNS Belgium, this decline does not mean that there are fewer malicious domain names or that monitoring has been reduced. Rather, it means that suspicious registrations are being effectively detected, often before a website even goes live. Since March 2024, DNS Belgium has been using artificial intelligence to detect suspicious registrations more quickly. Registrations involving suspicious brand names, unusual volumes or requests from high-risk areas can be temporarily blocked for further scrutiny.
Philip Du Bois, Managing Director of DNS Belgium: “Cybercriminals are constantly trying to register new websites for phishing and online scams. That is why we actively monitor for suspicious patterns even before a domain name becomes fully active. This system operates largely automatically, but human verification is always required. As a result, the number of malicious websites within the .be zone remains relatively low compared to many other international extensions, and .be ranks among the safest extensions in the world.”
Some notable municipalities in the top 20
Regionally, DNS Belgium also notes notable differences in the number of .be domain names per 100 inhabitants. Herstappe, which tops the list, is a statistical outlier due to its very low population. However, municipalities such as Sint-Martens-Latem, Schilde and Lasne score highly, partly due to the strong presence of self-employed people, consultants and entrepreneurs. In Kontich, the presence of the IT group De Cronos Groep, which is home to dozens of companies, also plays a role. The capital, Brussels, also has a particularly high number of .be domains per inhabitant thanks to the presence of companies, organisations and international players. The same applies to cities such as Leuven, Hasselt, Kortrijk and Roeselare. But it is striking that smaller municipalities also feature in the top 20.
Philip Du Bois, managing director of DNS Belgium: “It often involves a single player or a handful of players who hold an exceptionally large number of domain names, such as IT or web agencies. But in municipalities such as Zwalm, Lievegem and Alken, which rank highly, it is mainly private individuals. These municipalities therefore appear to be remarkably digitally enterprising. We would like to point out that it is best to remain the owner of your .be domain name yourself. If a web agency or external consultant registers the domain in their own name, this can cause problems in the event of a dispute or even lead to the loss of the domain.”
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