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's largest cities in terms of population in 2025 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 2025. However, the third and fourth city with the most inhabitants were in the Belgian region of Wallonia. Indeed, Charleroi counted ******* inhabitants, and Bruxelles, ******* inhabitants.

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;

Actual value and historical data chart for Belgium Population In Largest City

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.;;

About this dataset

Context

This list ranks the 1 cities in the Major County, OK by Belgian population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in each city over the past five years.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, including:

• 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Variables / Data Columns

• Rank by Belgian Population: This column displays the rank of city in the Major County, OK by their Belgian population, using the most recent ACS data available.
• City: The City for which the rank is shown in the previous column.
• Belgian Population: The Belgian population of the city is shown in this column.
• % of Total City Population: This shows what percentage of the total city population identifies as Belgian. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• % of Total Major County Belgian Population: This tells us how much of the entire Major County, OK Belgian population lives in that city. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• 5 Year Rank Trend: This column displays the rank trend across the last 5 years.

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/.

About this dataset

Context

This list ranks the 2 cities in the Big Stone County, MN by Belgian population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in each city over the past five years.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, including:

• 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Variables / Data Columns

• Rank by Belgian Population: This column displays the rank of city in the Big Stone County, MN by their Belgian population, using the most recent ACS data available.
• City: The City for which the rank is shown in the previous column.
• Belgian Population: The Belgian population of the city is shown in this column.
• % of Total City Population: This shows what percentage of the total city population identifies as Belgian. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• % of Total Big Stone County Belgian Population: This tells us how much of the entire Big Stone County, MN Belgian population lives in that city. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• 5 Year Rank Trend: This column displays the rank trend across the last 5 years.

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/.

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 is the dataset for the article 'Projecting the World. The Mediated Geography of the Projection Lantern in Belgium c.1900-c.1920' with Thomas Smits. The dataset contains announcements and reviews of lantern lectures published in Belgian newspapers. The studied newspapers provide an accurate overview of the Belgian newspaper landscape in three sample periods (1902-1904, 1914-1918, and 1922-1924). We considered the different ideological backgrounds (Catholic, liberal, and socialist) and the language of the publication (French and Dutch) and focussed on the two largest cities of Belgium at that time: Antwerp and Brussels. Using different search strings, we identified 8,230 announcements and reviews for lantern lectures, published in 45 different newspaper titles. We included all types of performances (travel, economic, religious, etc). Next to the geographic references, we also recorded: the newspaper and its production date, the date of the performance, the speaker and their profession, the location of the performance, and, when available, information on which images were shown and the reaction of the audience. Taking into account that some lectures were announced and discussed multiple times, our final dataset consists of 5,673 unique lectures of which 2,570 have a spatial reference (45%). We identified three levels of spatial references: continent, country, and city. If the announcements mentioned a place in one of the last two levels (country or city), we completed the parent levels. For instance, we filled in Europe and France for lectures that mentioned Paris. We recorded place names as they were mentioned in the newspapers but also normalized the spatial references to modern-day cities and countries (see methodology). This is an abbreviated version of the dataset collected for my doctoral dissertation 'From 'Magic' to 'the Masses' Mapping the Lantern Lecture Circuit in Antwerp and Brussels, c.1900-c.1920' (University of Antwerp). You can e-mail me for the larger dataset. In the article, we analysed the dataset using Jupyter Notebooks which can be found in the GitHub repository: https://github.com/tpsmi/projectingtheworld

About this dataset

Context

This list ranks the 1 cities in the Big Horn County, MT by Belgian population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in each city over the past five years.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, including:

• 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Variables / Data Columns

• Rank by Belgian Population: This column displays the rank of city in the Big Horn County, MT by their Belgian population, using the most recent ACS data available.
• City: The City for which the rank is shown in the previous column.
• Belgian Population: The Belgian population of the city is shown in this column.
• % of Total City Population: This shows what percentage of the total city population identifies as Belgian. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• % of Total Big Horn County Belgian Population: This tells us how much of the entire Big Horn County, MT Belgian population lives in that city. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• 5 Year Rank Trend: This column displays the rank trend across the last 5 years.

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/.

National Geographic's classic political map of Europe features country boundaries, thousands of place names, waterbodies, airports, major highways and roads, national parks, and much more. Includes the countries and major cities of Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.>> Order print map <<

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.

Interest-Expense Time Series for Intervest Offices - Ware. Intervest Offices & Warehouses NV (referred to hereafter as "Intervest") is a public regulated real estate company (RREC) under Belgian law, founded in 1996, of which the shares have been listed on Euronext Brussels (INTO) since 1999. Intervest invests in logistics real estate in Belgium and The Netherlands and in office buildings in Belgium. Investments are focused on up-to-date buildings and sustainable (re)development projects, located in strategic locations, with an eye on cluster formation and is aimed at first-rate tenants. The logistics segment of the portfolio in Belgium is located on the Antwerp - Brussels - Nivelles, Antwerp - Limburg - Liège, and Antwerp - Ghent - Bruges axes and, in the Netherlands, on the Moerdijk - 's Hertogenbosch - Nijmegen, Rotterdam - Gorinchem - Nijmegen and Bergen-op-Zoom - Eindhoven - Venlo axes. The office segment of the real estate portfolio focuses on the central cities with an important student population of Antwerp, Mechelen, Brussels and Leuven and their surroundings. Intervest distinguishes itself in renting space by going beyond merely renting m². The company goes beyond real estate.

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.

In Belgium, the Federal Police registers a steady number of human trafficking cases. Around ********************* cases are reported each year. In 2022, *** human trafficking cases were registered, and 126 economic trafficking cases were registered in Belgium in 2020. In comparison, the neighboring country of the Netherlands registered *** human trafficking cases in 2021.

Human trafficking under Belgian law

Human trafficking refers to the exploitation of individuals for profit. Exploitation covers prostitution, infantile pornography, begging, organ harvesting, forced crime, and forced labor. Confusion is often made between human trafficking, illegal immigration, and smuggling. The latter describes the act of aiding the illegal entry of a person into a country.

An international consensus on the definition of human trafficking was crucial due to this confusion. Thus, the European Union and the United Nations found common ground: Besides exploitation, human trafficking’s definition today rests on two other key elements: acts and means. Acts can be recruiting, transporting, transferring or housing. Whereas means refer to threats, violence, constraint, and deceit. In 2005, Belgium adapted its law to reflect this consensus.

Belgium compromises protecting the victims and fighting criminal organizations. The country offers victim protection in return for their collaboration with the authorities. For this, reporting the offense is mandatory.

Victims of human trafficking in Belgium

Since the early ‘90s, Belgium delivers a residency permit to human trafficking victims. For this, the victim must withdraw from exploitation and attend support centers. Three centers specialize in welcoming and supporting victims. They provide psychological and medical care, administrative help, and legal advice. These centers are in the three big Belgian cities: Brussels, Antwerp, and Liège. Placement in a secret location shelter is also offered when needed.

Free-Cash-Flow-To-The-Firm Time Series for Intervest Offices - Ware. Intervest Offices & Warehouses NV (referred to hereafter as "Intervest") is a public regulated real estate company (RREC) under Belgian law, founded in 1996, of which the shares have been listed on Euronext Brussels (INTO) since 1999. Intervest invests in logistics real estate in Belgium and The Netherlands and in office buildings in Belgium. Investments are focused on up-to-date buildings and sustainable (re)development projects, located in strategic locations, with an eye on cluster formation and is aimed at first-rate tenants. The logistics segment of the portfolio in Belgium is located on the Antwerp - Brussels - Nivelles, Antwerp - Limburg - Liège, and Antwerp - Ghent - Bruges axes and, in the Netherlands, on the Moerdijk - 's Hertogenbosch - Nijmegen, Rotterdam - Gorinchem - Nijmegen and Bergen-op-Zoom - Eindhoven - Venlo axes. The office segment of the real estate portfolio focuses on the central cities with an important student population of Antwerp, Mechelen, Brussels and Leuven and their surroundings. Intervest distinguishes itself in renting space by going beyond merely renting m². The company goes beyond real estate.

Brussels was the home of five Bitcoin ATMs as of June 2020, whereas Amsterdam had more than 20 of these cryptocurrency installations. In general, Bitcoin ATMs were to be found in the bigger cities of the two cities, but they also sporadically appeared in smaller cities. No recent data exists on the market size of Bitcoin in either Belgium or the Netherlands. In the first three quarters of 2017, there were approximately 44,000 transactions in Bitcoin from the Netherlands on a domestic trading platform called BTC Direct. This lack of market data has two reasons. First, the design of the digital currency (meant to provide privacy) makes it is difficult to trace. Second, Bitcoin did not reach the news in the two countries that often after 2017. Approximately 60 percent of the households in the Netherlands who invested in cryptocurrencies started doing so in that year. Data on cryptocurrencies in Belgium and the Netherlands therefore mostly stems from 2017 and 2018, not from 2019.

What can be said about cryptocurrencies in Belgium and the Netherlands?

According to a survey held in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in early 2018, Dutch respondents had the highest cryptocurrency ownership. This could be any cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin but also Ethereum or Ripple. However, consumers from the Benelux region held much less blockchain-powered currencies than their European counterparts. Not only that, they also were less likely to buy into the trend of buying cryptocurrencies over time. This might have to do with the steep decline in Bitcoin prices by the time of the survey. The biggest reason for Dutch consumers to invest in the digital money was not because of technology or out of curiosity, but simply to earn money.

Who owns cryptocurrencies in the Netherlands?

Bitcoin was owned in roughly equal amounts by both male (69 percent) as well as female (65 percent) respondents to a 2018 survey in the Netherlands. Ethereum and Litecoin, however, were way more popular amongst male respondents. Women were overall less likely to invest in cryptocurrencies but did show an interest in coins like Ripple and TRON.

This statistic shows the number of dwellings per 1,000 citizens in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2016. In 2016, there were approximately *** dwellings per 1,000 citizens in Belgium. This is higher than the number reached in the Netherlands.

In Europe, the supply of houses struggles to keep pace with the demand. The index for building permits issued in France for the construction of residential real estate decreased to ***** points in 2001 and to **** in 2015, whilst the total number of building permits in Belgium shows the same development, but the rate increased again in 2016 when compared to 2015. In some major cities in Europe, the demand for (temporary) housing is even higher due to the presence of Airbnb.

The most office real estate space in Flanders, Belgium was found in Antwerp. Antwerp's office stock amounted to almost *** million square meters in 2021, compared to *** million square meters in Ghent, which was the second largest market in Flanders.

It is estimated that Europe had an urbanization rate of approximately 8.5 percent in the year 1800. The Netherlands and Belgium were some of the most heavily urbanized regions, due the growth of port cities such as Rotterdam and Antwerp during Netherlands' empirical expansion, and the legacy of urbanization in the region, which stems from its wool and craft industries in medieval times. Additionally, the decline of their agricultural sectors and smaller territories contributed to a lower rural population. Scotland and England had also become more urban throughout the British Empire's growth, although the agricultural revolution of the previous two centuries, along with the first industrial revolution, then led to more rapid urbanization during the 19th century. In contrast, there was a large imbalance between the east and west of the continent; the two largest empires, Austria and Russia, had the lowest levels of urbanization in Europe in 1800, due to their vast territories, lower maritime presence, and lack of industrial development.