Belgium's largest cities in terms of population in 2024 were situated in Flanders. Approximately ******* people lived in Antwerpen, making it the biggest city in Belgium. This city was followed by Gent with ******* inhabitants in 2024. However, the third and fourth city with the most inhabitants were in the Belgian region of Wallonia. Indeed, Charleroi counted ******* inhabitants, and Bruxelles, ******* inhabitants.

In 2022, in terms of population, the biggest cities or municipalities in Belgium were Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, and Brussels. The Flemish cities of Antwerp and Ghent were the most populated in Belgium in 2022. From a regional perspective, out of the 6.8 million people living in Flanders, around 800,000 people lived in one of these two cities. However, the region of Wallonia also had large cities such as Charleroi and Liège. For instance, both cities registered around 200,000 inhabitants each. To put all these numbers into perspective, Belgium’s population amounted to 11.6 million in 2022.

Belgium’s capital city: Brussels

Surprisingly, the Belgian capital, Brussels, was not on top of the list. The reason for this is in the way the city’s population is measured. Brussels is made of 19 municipalities. In this ranking, for instance, only three of them are listed: Brussels City, Schaerbeek, and Anderlecht. These 19 municipalities form the heart of the agglomeration of Brussels which counts 36 municipalities in total and is also known as “le Grand Bruxelles”. In 2019, over a million people were living in this Brussels-Capital Region. The agglomeration of Brussels is the most populated in the country, it is bigger than the agglomeration of Antwerp. Yet in terms of municipalities, Antwerp was the most populated in Belgium in 2020.

Belgium’s five big agglomerations

Belgium faced a population growth of 0.58 percent in 2020. The country counts five big agglomerations: Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent, and Liège. Although the notion of agglomeration is very fluid and disputed, each of these five agglomerations represents a significant part of the population. For some, agglomerations are defined by the continuity of constructions. For others, they are defined by the sense of an urban entity shared by a living community. Nonetheless, the definition of an agglomeration in Belgium corresponds to the European rules. These rules fix the technical specifications regarding the population and housing census. An agglomeration is, therefore, a group of municipalities which includes a continuously built-up zone with no cut of more than 200 meters between two constructions.

Belgium BE: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 18.381 % in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 18.334 % for 2023. Belgium BE: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 17.684 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2024, with 65 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.435 % in 2021 and a record low of 17.224 % in 1967. Belgium BE: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belgium – Table BE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.;United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.;Weighted average;

Population in largest city in Belgium was reported at 2132178 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Belgium - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Belgium BE: Population in Largest City data was reported at 2,132,178.000 Person in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,121,992.000 Person for 2023. Belgium BE: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 1,703,259.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2024, with 65 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,132,178.000 Person in 2024 and a record low of 1,484,676.000 Person in 1960. Belgium BE: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belgium – Table BE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.;United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.;;

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Belgium was reported at 18.28 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Belgium - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Want to live somewhere quiet? Then the Brussels-Capital Region maybe would not be the place for you. In a country where the population density was highly depended on the region, the Brussels-Capital Region far exceeded the others in terms of residents per square kilometer. Whereas in Brussels over 7,500 people lived per a square kilometer, in the Walloon Region this was only 276. In total, roughly 1.22 million inhabitants lived in the Brussels-Capital Region in 2022.

 Flemish Region has the highest number of inhabitants  

Although the Brussels-Capital Region had the highest population density, it was by no means Belgium’s region with the largest number of inhabitants. On the contrary: both the Flemish and the Walloon Regions had more inhabitants than the Brussels Region. In total, just over ten percent of Belgium’s population lived in Brussels, the rest was divided among Flanders (58 percent) and Wallonia (32 percent).

 Comparison to the other Benelux countries   

Belgium’s population density amounted to 375 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2021. This was significantly lower than the population density in neighboring country the Netherlands, where on average 519 inhabitants lived on a square kilometer. It was however higher than Luxembourg’s population density, which amounted to about 245 inhabitants per square kilometer. This was the lowest population density of all three Benelux countries.

This horizontal bar chart displays forest area (km²) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Belgium. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

Where can you find the most office space in Belgium? According to calculations based on the number of square meters, most office buildings were in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. There were large differences in the market size between the three cities, however. Mechelen and Liège followed in fourth and fifth place with ******* square meters of office space, whereas Ypres was ranked the lowest of the ** cities in this ranking.

This horizontal bar chart displays inflation (annual %) by capital city using the aggregation median in Belgium. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Belgium median household income by race. The dataset can be utilized to understand the racial distribution of Belgium income.

Content

The dataset will have the following datasets when applicable

Please note: The 2020 1-Year ACS estimates data was not reported by the Census Bureau due to the impact on survey collection and analysis caused by COVID-19. Consequently, median household income data for 2020 is unavailable for large cities (population 65,000 and above).

• Belgium, WI median household income breakdown by race betwen 2011 and 2021
• Median Household Income by Racial Categories in Belgium, WI (2021, in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars)

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Interested in deeper insights and visual analysis?

Explore our comprehensive data analysis and visual representations for a deeper understanding of Belgium median household income by race. You can refer the same here

This horizontal bar chart displays fertility rate (births per woman) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population female in Belgium. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

In 2023, the population of Belgium was approximately 11.7 million, and has grown by about 113,500 compared to 2022, when the population was 11.58 million.

How is the population distributed by region?
The population of Belgium is divided into three regions: the Flemish, Walloon, and Brussels-capital regions. The population of these regions is not distributed equally. In 2021, the Flemish region had 6.65 million inhabitants, compared to 3.65 million in the Walloon region and 1.22 million in the Brussels-capital region. The distribution between the regions has remained similar since 2009, with population increases in all regions staying relatively similar. With the population of Belgium expected to grow to 11.91 million by 2031, it will be interesting to see where these people will settle themselves.

How does Belgium’s population compare to the rest of Europe?
In 2021, Belgium had the 12th largest population in Europe, putting Belgium one place above Czechia and one below the Netherlands. Russia is the most populated European country with 145.9 million residents, meaning it has about 12.5 times the population of Belgium. The least populated country in Europe other than Vatican city is Gibraltar, with 34,000 inhabitants, meaning it has 0.3 percent of the population of Belgium.

This statistic displays the total retail outlets in Belgium in 2019, by city size. There were approximately *** retail stores in places that had ***** to ***** inhabitants.

The capacity of hotels (number of beds) in the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium amounted to a total of approximately ****** in 2019. This is an increase compared to the previous year, when hotels offered roughly ****** bed spaces in the city of Brussels and its surrounding villages (together making up the Capital region) and the highest volume of beds in the period between 2012 and 2019. Note that Belgium does not report numbers on the city of Brussels itself. Observing the number of hotels in the Region, there were nearly *** hotels in 2018. The highest volume was registered in 2014, when the Brussels-Capital Region had *** hotel accommodations.

Increase in beds in Bruges in 2018

Bruges, the capital city of the Western Flanders province of Belgium and the seventh largest city of the country, offered approximately ***** hotel beds, a capacity increase of *** beds compared to the previous year. Regarding the number of hotels, it steadily decreased between 2012 and 2016 from ** to ** hotels, before increasing again to ** hotels in 2017 and 2018.

Majority of the hotel industry revenue generated in Flanders region

In 2017, the revenue of the hotel industry in Belgium amounted to roughly two billion euros in 2018, of which nearly *** million euros originated from the Flemish region. Furthermore, approximately *** million euros came from the Brussels-Capital Region, whereas just under *** million euros of the total revenue of the hotel industry was generated in the Walloon region.

最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比在12-01-2024达18.381%，相较于12-01-2023的18.334%有所增长。最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2024期间平均值为17.684%，共65份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2021，达18.435%，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1967，为17.224%。CEIC提供的最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于全球数据库的比利时 – Table BE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics。

How many coworking spaces are there in Belgium? According to calculations, there were close to *** coworking centers in the country in 2019. Together, these made up less than *** percent of the total office market in the country. In Brussels, however, the share of flexible workspaces made up more than ** percent of all office take-up, making the Belgian capital one of Europe’s most common cities for coworking.

Brussels leads the charge for office space in Belgium…

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the city with the highest amount of office space in Belgium was Brussels. There were large differences, however, between Brussels and other Belgian cities. It was forecast that Antwerp, for example, would have roughly *** million square meters of office space in 2018, whereas Brussels would have around **** million. Due to the capital’s central location and the presence of European institutions, prime office rents in Brussels were also significantly higher than those found in other Belgian cities.

… but not when it comes to constructing new office space.

One reason why coworking in Brussels might be popular, could be due to construction issues in the Belgian capital. In 2018, there were just ** building permits for newly constructed commercial real estate in the Brussels-Capital Region (which includes the city of Brussels plus its surrounding villages). This same value reached over ***** in the northern, Belgian Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. The vacancy rate of offices in Brussels also reached its lowest value in 2018.

Malaysia Tourist Arrival: Sightseeing In Cities: Belgium data was reported at 83.600 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 80.300 % for 2014. Malaysia Tourist Arrival: Sightseeing In Cities: Belgium data is updated yearly, averaging 84.600 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2015, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100.000 % in 2013 and a record low of 34.300 % in 2003. Malaysia Tourist Arrival: Sightseeing In Cities: Belgium data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Tourism Malaysia. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malaysia – Table MY.Q009: Tourist Arrivals By Major Activities Engaged.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Belgium household income by gender. The dataset can be utilized to understand the gender-based income distribution of Belgium income.

Content

The dataset will have the following datasets when applicable

Please note: The 2020 1-Year ACS estimates data was not reported by the Census Bureau due to the impact on survey collection and analysis caused by COVID-19. Consequently, median household income data for 2020 is unavailable for large cities (population 65,000 and above).

• Belgium, IL annual median income by work experience and sex dataset : Aged 15+, 2010-2022 (in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars)
• Belgium, IL annual income distribution by work experience and gender dataset (Number of individuals ages 15+ with income, 2021)

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Interested in deeper insights and visual analysis?

Explore our comprehensive data analysis and visual representations for a deeper understanding of Belgium income distribution by gender. You can refer the same here

In the year 1500, the share of Western Europe's population living in urban areas was just six percent, but this rose to 31 percent by the end of the 19th century. Despite this drastic change, development was quite slow between 1500 and 1800, and it was not until the industrial revolution when there was a spike in urbanization. As Britain was the first region to undergo the industrial revolution, from around the 1760s until the 1840s, these areas were the most urbanized in Europe by 1890. The Low Countries Prior to the 19th century, Belgium and the Netherlands had been the most urbanized regions due to the legacy of their proto-industrial areas in the medieval period, and then the growth of their port cities during the Netherlands' empirical expansion (Belgium was a part of the Netherlands until the 1830s). Belgium was also quick to industrialize in the 1800s, and saw faster development than its larger, more economically powerful neighbors, France and Germany. Least-urban areas Ireland was the only Western European region with virtually no urbanization in the 16th and 17th century, but the industrial growth of Belfast and Dublin (then major port cities of the British Empire) saw this change by the late-1800s. The region of Scandinavia was the least-urbanized area in Western Europe by 1890, but it saw rapid economic growth in Europe during the first half of the following century.