Economic section

• Area: 31,000 km²; Population: 11.87 million
• Situated at the heart of Western Europe, Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union
• Brussels, its capital, is home to a large number of European and international institutions
• Belgium is one of the richest countries in Europe and is on an equal footing with Germany: the GDP per inhabitant, expressed in purchasing power parity and compared to the European average (EU-27) of 100, was 114 in 2025
• The Belgian economy's openness is visible mainly through its integration into the European Union
• The Belgian economy, as any modern industrialized economy, is characterized by the growing importance of services
• However, the manufacturing industry is still key to the Belgian economy
• It is a quintessential “small open economy”: Small, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of €614 billion (current prices) in 2025, representing 3% of the total GDP of the European Union’s 27 countries
   

The core sectors of the Belgian industry are:

• the pharmaceutical industry (20.4%)
• the food and beverage industry (15.3%)
• the chemical industry (15%)
• the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products (11%)
• the manufacture of rubber and plastic products (8.6%)
• the manufacture of furniture and repair and installation of machinery and equipment (5.9%)
• the manufacture of machinery and equipment (5.8%)
   

• Belgium ranks 32nd among the most competitive nations in the world, according to the International Institute for Management Development classification.
• On the basis of the “EY's attractiveness survey Europe 2026”, Belgium remains among the top 10 of most attractive European countries for investment.