Economy of Belgium
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Trade Organization | |
Country group | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Population | 11,549,888 (1 January 2020)[3] |
GDP | |
GDP rank | |
GDP growth | |
GDP per capita | |
GDP per capita rank | |
GDP by sector |
|
Population below poverty line | 19.5% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2019)[7] |
25.1 low (2019, Eurostat)[8] | |
Labour force | |
Labour force by occupation |
|
Unemployment | |
Average gross salary | €3,401 / $3,821 monthly (May, 2017) |
€2,170 / $2,438 monthly (May, 2017) | |
Main industries | engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed foods and beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, base metals, textiles, glass, petroleum |
External | |
Exports | $547.5 billion (2021)[6] |
Export goods | chemicals, machinery and equipment, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs |
Main export partners |
|
Imports | $395.7 billion (2020)[6] |
Import goods | raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, oil products |
Main import partners |
|
FDI stock | |
$1.84 billion (2019 est.)[6] | |
Gross external debt | $1.281 trillion (31 March 2016 est.)[6] |
Public finances | |
Revenues | 50.3% of GDP (2019)[15] |
Expenses | 52.2% of GDP (2019)[15] |
Economic aid |
|
$31.76 billion (April 2021 est.)[6] | |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. |
The economy of Belgium is a highly developed, high-income, mixed economy.[19]
Belgium's economy has capitalised on the country's central geographic location, and has a well-developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. Belgium was the first European country to join the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It has since developed a highly-developed transportation infrastructure made up of ports (most notably the Port of Antwerp), canals, railways, and highways, in order to integrate its industry with that of its neighbours.[20]
Belgium's industry is concentrated mainly in the populous region of Flanders in the north, around Brussels and in the two biggest Walloon cities, Liège and Charleroi, along the Sillon industriel. Belgium imports raw materials and semi-finished goods that are further processed and re-exported. Except for its coal, which is no longer economical to exploit, Belgium has few natural resources other than fertile soils.
Despite the heavy industrial component, services dominate the country's economy and account for 77.2% of Belgium's gross domestic product (GDP), while agriculture accounts for 0.7%.[20]
With exports equivalent to over two-thirds of the country's
Belgium began circulating the euro currency in January 2002.
In 2021, Belgium's
History
In the twentieth century
For 50 years through
Foreign investment contributed significantly to Belgian economic growth in the 1960s. In particular, U.S. firms played a leading role in the expansion of light industrial and petrochemical industries in the 1960s and 1970s.[20]
The older, traditional industries of Wallonia, particularly
The early 1980s saw the country facing a difficult period of
Against this grim backdrop, in 1982, Prime Minister
On 1 May 1998, Belgium became a first-tier member of the
In the twenty-first century
Belgium switched from the Belgian franc to the
Trade unions
With 65% of the workers belonging to a union, Belgium is a country with one of the highest percentages of trade union membership. Only the Scandinavian countries have a higher trade union density. The biggest union with around 1.7 million members is the Christian democrat
Besides these "big three" there are a number of smaller unions, some more influential than others. These smaller unions tend to specialize in one profession or economic sector. Next to these specialized unions there is also the
Trade
About 80% of Belgium's trade is with fellow EU member states. Given this high percentage, it seeks to diversify and expand trade opportunities with non-EU countries. The Belgian authorities are, as a rule, anti-protectionist and try to maintain a hospitable and open trade and investment climate. The European Commission negotiates on trade issues for all member states, which, in turn lessens bilateral trade disputes with Belgium.[20]
The Belgian Government encourages new foreign investment as a means to promote employment. With regional devolution, Flanders, Brussels, and Wallonia are now courting potential foreign investors and offer a host of incentives and benefits.[20] Foreign companies in Belgium account for approximately 11% of the total work force, with the U.S.
Attracted by the EU 1992 single-market program, many foreign firms and lawyers have settled in Brussels since 1989.[20]
Employment
The social security system, which expanded rapidly during the prosperous 1950s and 1960s, includes a medical system,
Belgium's unemployment rate was 6.5% in 2008. A total of 4.99 million people make up Belgium's labor force. The vast majority of these people (80%), work in the service sector. The Belgian Industry claims 19% of the labor force; and agriculture claims 1%. As in other industrialized nations, pension and other social entitlement programs have become a major economic and political concern as the baby boomers approach retirement age.[20]
Budget
Although Belgium is a wealthy country, public expenditures far exceeded income for many years, and taxes were not diligently pursued. The Belgian Government reacted to the 1973 and 1979 oil price hikes by hiring the redundant work force into the public sector and subsidizing industries like coal, steel, textiles, glass, and shipbuilding, which had lost their international competitive edge. As a result, cumulative government debt reached 121% of GDP by the end of the 1980s. However, thanks to Belgium's high personal savings rate, the Belgian Government financed the deficit from mainly domestic savings, minimizing the deleterious effects on the overall economy.[20]
The federal government ran a 7.1% budget deficit in 1992 at the time of the EU's
Regional differences
The economy of Belgium is varied and cannot be understood without taking the regional differences into account. Indeed,the Flemish and Walloon economies differ in many respects (consider for instance Eurostat and OECD statistics), and cities like
Unemployment has remained consistently more than twice as high in Wallonia than in Flanders, and has been even higher in Brussels, during most of the last 20 years (2012: Flanders: 4.55%; Wallonia: 10.12% and Brussels: 17.47%).[28]
Rank | NUTS region | Per capita in Euros |
% of EU average |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Brussels | 69,500 | 196 |
2 | Flemish Region | 43,800 | 124 |
3 | Walloon Region | 30,700 | 87 |
Brussels
Being the de facto European capital, its economy is massively service-oriented. It has a number of regional headquarters of multinational corporations. It is also host to a great number of European institutions, in addition to the
Flanders
In 2004 the port of Antwerp was the second largest European sea port by cargo volume, and the Antwerp freight railway station accounts for one-third of Belgian freight traffic. Antwerp is the first diamond market in the world, diamond exports account for roughly 1/10 of Belgian exports. The Antwerp-based BASF plant is the largest BASF-base outside Germany, and accounts on its own for about 2% of Belgian exports. Other industrial and service activities include car manufacturing, telecommunications, photographic products.
The
Tourism is also a major component of the economy of Bruges. Due to its pristine medieval city centre, Bruges has become a popular tourist destination. Annually about 2.5 million day tourists visit the city and in 2007 there were about 1.4 million overnight stays.The
Wallonia
In the past, Liège was one of the most important steel-making centres in Europe. Starting in 1817, John Cockerill extensively developed the iron and steel industry. The industrial complex of Seraing was the largest in the world. Although now a shadow of its former self, steel production and the manufacture of steel goods remain important.
Liège has also been an important centre for
Data
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027). Inflation under 5% is in green.[37]
Year | GDP
(in Bil. US$PPP) |
GDP per capita
(in US$ PPP) |
GDP
(in Bil. US$nominal) |
GDP per capita
(in US$ nominal) |
GDP growth
(real) |
Inflation rate
(in Percent) |
Unemployment
(in Percent) |
Government debt
(in % of GDP) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | 106.1 | 10,769.0 | 123.5 | 12,529.3 | 4.4% | 6.7% | 8.3% | 76.8% |
1981 | 115.8 | 11,745.0 | 102.2 | 10,366.1 | -0.3% | 7.6% | 10.0% | 89.7% |
1982 | 123.7 | 12,556.1 | 90.0 | 9,128.6 | 0.6% | 8.7% | 11.5% | 99.6% |
1983 | 129.0 | 13,083.9 | 85.0 | 8,626.2 | 0.3% | 7.7% | 10.7% | 110.3% |
1984 | 136.9 | 13,897.6 | 81.2 | 8,244.8 | 2.5% | 6.3% | 10.8% | 114.6% |
1985 | 143.6 | 14,566.9 | 84.5 | 8,568.7 | 1.7% | 4.9% | 10.1% | 119.4% |
1986 | 149.2 | 15,129.2 | 117.1 | 11,873.8 | 1.8% | 1.3% | 10.1% | 124.7% |
1987 | 156.4 | 15,851.6 | 145.4 | 14,740.5 | 2.3% | 1.6% | 9.8% | 129.2% |
1988 | 169.5 | 17,166.6 | 158.1 | 16,008.6 | 4.7% | 1.2% | 8.8% | 129.7% |
1989 | 182.3 | 18,362.2 | 159.8 | 16,098.2 | 3.5% | 3.1% | 7.4% | 126.4% |
1990 | 195.0 | 19,607.2 | 200.1 | 20,119.9 | 3.1% | 3.5% | 6.6% | 130.3% |
1991 | 205.3 | 20,560.9 | 205.4 | 20,563.7 | 1.8% | 3.2% | 6.5% | 131.8% |
1992 | 213.2 | 21,276.7 | 228.7 | 22,823.0 | 1.5% | 2.3% | 7.1% | 134.7% |
1993 | 216.2 | 21,472.2 | 218.7 | 21,723.6 | -1.0% | 2.5% | 8.6% | 138.9% |
1994 | 227.9 | 22,566.2 | 238.6 | 23,624.5 | 3.2% | 2.4% | 9.8% | 137.1% |
1995 | 238.3 | 23,519.1 | 288.3 | 28,458.5 | 2.4% | 1.3% | 9.7% | 131.3% |
1996 | 245.8 | 24,236.3 | 279.3 | 27,535.3 | 1.3% | 1.8% | 9.6% | 129.0% |
1997 | 259.6 | 25,521.1 | 253.0 | 24,878.7 | 3.8% | 1.5% | 9.2% | 124.3% |
1998 | 267.6 | 26,257.7 | 258.9 | 25,399.2 | 2.0% | 0.9% | 9.3% | 119.2% |
1999 | 281.0 | 27,513.1 | 258.5 | 25,309.1 | 3.5% | 1.1% | 8.4% | 115.4% |
2000 | 298.1 | 29,110.0 | 236.9 | 23,136.5 | 3.7% | 2.7% | 6.9% | 109.6% |
2001 | 308.1 | 30,021.8 | 236.7 | 23,067.2 | 1.1% | 2.4% | 6.6% | 108.2% |
2002 | 318.3 | 30,870.9 | 258.2 | 25,044.3 | 1.7% | 1.5% | 7.5% | 105.4% |
2003 | 327.9 | 31,665.3 | 318.0 | 30,707.7 | 1.0% | 1.5% | 8.2% | 101.7% |
2004 | 348.7 | 33,545.0 | 369.0 | 35,497.6 | 3.6% | 1.9% | 8.4% | 97.2% |
2005 | 368.0 | 35,232.8 | 385.9 | 36,945.5 | 2.3% | 2.5% | 8.5% | 95.1% |
2006 | 389.1 | 37,014.5 | 408.3 | 38,841.8 | 2.6% | 2.3% | 8.3% | 91.5% |
2007 | 414.3 | 39,140.3 | 471.0 | 44,496.8 | 3.7% | 1.8% | 7.5% | 87.3% |
2008 | 424.1 | 39,760.0 | 517.3 | 48,493.1 | 0.4% | 4.5% | 7.0% | 93.2% |
2009 | 418.2 | 38,891.8 | 482.7 | 44,892.2 | -2.0% | 0.0% | 8.0% | 100.2% |
2010 | 435.4 | 40,162.4 | 481.8 | 44,448.2 | 2.9% | 2.3% | 8.4% | 100.3% |
2011 | 451.9 | 41,082.4 | 523.2 | 47,564.4 | 1.7% | 3.4% | 7.2% | 103.5% |
2012 | 469.7 | 42,409.3 | 496.5 | 44,824.2 | 0.7% | 2.6% | 7.7% | 104.8% |
2013 | 487.3 | 43,755.2 | 521.8 | 46,848.6 | 0.5% | 1.2% | 8.6% | 105.5% |
2014 | 503.6 | 45,043.2 | 535.5 | 47,897.0 | 1.6% | 0.5% | 8.7% | 107.0% |
2015 | 521.0 | 46,365.2 | 462.4 | 41,147.3 | 2.0% | 0.6% | 8.7% | 105.2% |
2016 | 550.6 | 48,679.7 | 475.9 | 42,076.4 | 1.3% | 1.8% | 7.9% | 105.0% |
2017 | 575.8 | 50,726.6 | 502.6 | 44,274.1 | 1.6% | 2.2% | 7.2% | 102.0% |
2018 | 600.5 | 52,678.4 | 543.6 | 47,689.5 | 1.8% | 2.3% | 6.0% | 99.8% |
2019 | 624.1 | 54,481.0 | 535.4 | 46,740.5 | 2.1% | 1.2% | 5.5% | 97.7% |
2020 | 595.7 | 51,703.3 | 521.3 | 45,238.7 | -5.7% | 0.4% | 5.8% | 112.8% |
2021 | 659.3 | 57,054.5 | 599.1 | 51,849.3 | 6.2% | 3.2% | 6.3% | 108.4% |
2022 | 723.1 | 62,065.1 | 589.5 | 50,597.9 | 2.4% | 9.5% | 5.4% | 103.9% |
2023 | 751.7 | 64,125.3 | 596.7 | 50,906.1 | 0.4% | 4.9% | 5.6% | 105.1% |
2024 | 778.3 | 66,336.5 | 619.3 | 52,786.0 | 1.4% | 1.8% | 5.6% | 107.2% |
2025 | 802.1 | 68,219.2 | 642.3 | 54,627.8 | 1.2% | 1.7% | 5.6% | 109.7% |
2026 | 827.5 | 70,140.6 | 666.5 | 56,487.1 | 1.2% | 1.7% | 5.5% | 112.3% |
2027 | 853.6 | 72,111.5 | 690.7 | 58,351.9 | 1.2% | 1.7% | 5.5% | 115.1% |
Companies
In 2022, the sector with the highest number of companies registered in Belgium is Services with 433,375 companies followed by Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate with 169,544 companies.[38]
See also
- Agriculture in Flanders
- Commemorative coins of Belgium
- Science and technology in Belgium
- List of largest companies in Belgium
References
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External links
Media related to Economy of Belgium at Wikimedia Commons