Belgium: Introduction

Capital: Brussels

Population

Total Population: 11,592,952

Natural Increase: 0.5%

Density: 381 Inhabitants/km²

Urban Population: 98.1%

Population of main cities: Antwerp (529,300); Gent (264,000); Charleroi (202,800); Liege (197,300); Brussels (185,200); Schaerbeek (132,800); Anderlecht (120,900); Bruges (118,700); Namur (111,500); Leuven (102,300)

Ethnic Origins: 67.9% of Belgians are of Belgian origin, 19.7% are of foreign origin and 12.4% are non-Belgians (of these last two percentages 20.5% come from a neighboring country, 28.2% from an EU27 country and 51.3% from a non-EU27 country).

58% of the population is Flemish, 31% is Walloon and 11% from Brussels. (Statistics Belgium)

Official Language: Dutch, French and German. In Belgium, 5.6 million people speak Dutch, 3.5 million speak French and about 50,000 people speak German.

Other Languages Spoken: Indigenous languages, recognised since 1990, such as Walloon, and immigrant languages, such as Arabic, Spanish and Turkish.

Business Language(s): International negotiations are often in English, with some occurring in French.

Business is typically conducted in Flemish, French, German or even English (depending on the region).

Religion: Catholics 95.9%, Others 4.1%

Local Time:

It is %T:%M %A In Brussels

Exchange Rate on :

National Currency: Euro (EUR)

Country Overview

Area: 30,530 km²

Type of State: Belgium is a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

Type of Economy: High-income economy; OECD member..
Economy dependent on foreign trade.

HDI*: 0.890/1

HDI (World Rank): 21/188

Note: (*) The HDI, Human Development Index, is an Indicator Which Synthesizes Several Data Such as Life Expectancy, Level of Education, Professional Careers, Access to Culture etc.

Telecommunication

Telephone Code:
To call from Belgium, dial 00
To call Belgium, dial +32

Internet Suffix: .be

Computers: 41.7 per 100 Inhabitants

Telephone Lines: 42.9 per 100 Inhabitants

Internet Users: 82.0 per 100 Inhabitants

Access to Electricity: 100% of the Population

Foreign Trade in Figures

Foreign Trade Indicators	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Imports of Goods (million USD)	408,915	454,947	427,708	396,132	510,208
Exports of Goods (million USD)	430,554	468,650	446,944	419,892	545,284
Imports of Services (million USD)	115,140	124,928	122,524	115,242	134,494
Exports of Services (million USD)	117,414	121,682	119,333	113,459	136,653

Source: WTO – World Trade Organisation, Latest data available.

See the latest updates in the Country Profile for Belgium.

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