Belgium Economy - 2024

Economic overview

high income economy with strong but moderate growth; high public debt; aging labor force; low labor force participation of low-skilled, migrant, and older workers; strong welfare system; high congestion; complex business permitting and judicial systems

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$599.814 billion (2021 est.)
$565.149 billion (2020 est.)
$597.165 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

6.13% (2021 est.)
-5.36% (2020 est.)
2.24% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$51,700 (2021 est.)
$49,000 (2020 est.)
$52,000 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$533.028 billion (2019 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.44% (2021 est.)
0.74% (2020 est.)
1.44% (2019 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: AA- (2016)

Moody's rating: Aa3 (2011)

Standard & Poors rating: AA (2011)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 0.7% (2017 est.)

industry: 22.1% (2017 est.)

services: 77.2% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 51.2% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 23.4% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 23.3% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 1.3% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 85.1% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -84.4% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

sugar beets, milk, potatoes, wheat, pork, lettuce, poultry, maize, barley, pears

Industries

engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed food and beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, base metals, textiles, glass, petroleum

Industrial production growth rate

1.28% (2021 est.)

Labor force

5.24 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate

6.42% (2021 est.)
5.55% (2020 est.)
5.36% (2019 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 19.6% (2021 est.)

male: 18.9%

female: 20.4%

Population below poverty line

14.8% (2018 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

27.2 (2019 est.)

Average household expenditures

on food: 13.4% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco: 4.3% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 3.4%

highest 10%: 28.4% (2006)

Remittances

2.67% of GDP (2021 est.)
2.42% of GDP (2020 est.)
2.27% of GDP (2019 est.)

Budget

revenues: $267.105 billion (2019 est.)

expenditures: $277.492 billion (2019 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

119.43% of GDP (2020 est.)
103.38% of GDP (2019 est.)
101.39% of GDP (2018 est.)

note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions; general government debt is defined by the Maastricht definition and calculated by the National Bank of Belgium as consolidated gross debt; the debt is defined in European Regulation EC479/2009 concerning the implementation of the protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty on European Union (Treaty of Maastricht) of 7 February 1992; the sub-sectors of consolidated gross debt are: federal government, communities and regions, local government, and social security funds

Taxes and other revenues

21.97% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

$2.917 billion (2021 est.)
$5.702 billion (2020 est.)
$507.275 million (2019 est.)

Exports

$515.625 billion (2021 est.)
$417.222 billion (2020 est.)
$441.566 billion (2019 est.)

note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.

Exports - partners

Germany 17%, France 14%, Netherlands 13%, United Kingdom 8%, United States 6%, Italy 5% (2019)

Exports - commodities

vaccines and cultures, cars, packaged medicines, refined petroleum, diamonds, natural gas (2021)

note: Belgian amphetamine production and MDMA (ecstasy) production remain significant illicit trade commodities

Imports

$509.018 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$408.343 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$438.221 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports - partners

Netherlands 16%, Germany 13%, France 10%, United States 8%, Ireland 5%, China 5% (2019)

Imports - commodities

cars, refined petroleum, packaged medicines, medical cultures/vaccines, diamonds, natural gas (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$41.872 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$33.296 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$28.97 billion (31 December 2019 est.)

Debt - external

$1,317,513,000,000 (2019 est.)
$1,332,358,000,000 (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

euros (EUR) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
0.845 (2021 est.)
0.876 (2020 est.)
0.893 (2019 est.)
0.847 (2018 est.)
0.885 (2017 est.)