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 2024 were situated in Flanders. Approximately 544,759 people lived in Antwerpen, making it the biggest city in Belgium. This city was followed by Gent with 269,597 inhabitants in 2024. However, the third and fourth city with the most inhabitants were in the Belgian region of Wallonia. Indeed, Charleroi counted 204,322 inhabitants, and Bruxelles, 196,828 inhabitants.

Population in largest city in Belgium was reported at 2121992 in 2023, 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 March of 2025.

Brussels topped the list of best cities for startups in Belgium in 2023, registering a total score of 8.73. That year, this city also dropped out of the list of leading cities for startups in Europe. Ghent followed second with a score of 5.36 points.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Belgium Hispanic or Latino population. It includes the distribution of the Hispanic or Latino population, of Belgium, by their ancestries, as identified by the Census Bureau. The dataset can be utilized to understand the origin of the Hispanic or Latino population of Belgium.

Key observations

Among the Hispanic population in Belgium, regardless of the race, the largest group is of Mexican origin, with a population of 4 (100% of the total Hispanic population).

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.

Origin for Hispanic or Latino population include:

• Mexican
• Puerto Rican
• Cuban
• Other Hispanic or Latino

Variables / Data Columns

• Origin: This column displays the origin for Hispanic or Latino population for the Belgium
• Population: The population of the specific origin for Hispanic or Latino population in the Belgium is shown in this column.
• % of Total Hispanic Population: This column displays the percentage distribution of each Hispanic origin as a proportion of Belgium total Hispanic or Latino population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

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/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Belgium Population by Race & Ethnicity. You can refer the same here

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.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Non-Hispanic population of Belgium by race. It includes the distribution of the Non-Hispanic population of Belgium across various race categories as identified by the Census Bureau. The dataset can be utilized to understand the Non-Hispanic population distribution of Belgium across relevant racial categories.

Key observations

Of the Non-Hispanic population in Belgium, the largest racial group is White alone with a population of 290 (90.06% of the total Non-Hispanic population).

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.

Racial categories include:

• White
• Black or African American
• American Indian and Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
• Some other race
• Two or more races (multiracial)

Variables / Data Columns

• Race: This column displays the racial categories (for Non-Hispanic) for the Belgium
• Population: The population of the racial category (for Non-Hispanic) in the Belgium is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the percentage distribution of each race as a proportion of Belgium total Non-Hispanic population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

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/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Belgium Population by Race & Ethnicity. You can refer the same here

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.

Chart and table of Belgium population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

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.

The state of Belgium owes its name to Julius Caesar, who used the name "Belgium" to refer to the region in his narrative "The Gallic Wars". After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region emerged as a cosmopolitan trading center, and was a collection of smaller duchies and states (such as Flanders and Brabant), before modern history saw control of the region pass between France, the Netherlands and (to a lesser extent) Spain. Modern day Belgium emerged in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution when it gained independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Throughout this time, the Belgian region was the setting of many conflicts between other European powers, which greatly affected the population development and demography of the area. From 1800 until the First world War, the population of Belgium grew steadily, and more than doubled in the nineteenth century. The World Wars Population growth stagnated in the 1910s, as a result of World War I and the Spanish Flu epidemic. Belgium was one of the focal points of military action in the war, and many military personnel from other nations also lost their lives here during the conflict. Much of the Second World War also took place in Belgium, and although it remained neutral at the outbreak of both wars, it was invaded twice by Germany due to its strategic importance. Belgium suffered an estimated 88,000 fatalities during the war; with many further military fatalities from other nations also perishing in the region. Continuous growth From 1950 onwards, Belgium's population grows at a relatively consistent rate, to more than ten million people the year 2000. Since the turn of the millennium, a positive net migration rate and higher life expectancy has meant that Belgium's population has grown even faster rate than in the twentieth century. Today, Belgium has a very high standard of living, and the capital city of Brussels is home to the headquarters of many international institutions, particularly the European Union.

The capacity of hotels (number of beds) in the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium amounted to a total of approximately 38,600 in 2019. This is an increase compared to the previous year, when hotels offered roughly 37,300 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 190 hotels in 2018. The highest volume was registered in 2014, when the Brussels-Capital Region had 201 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 8,440 hotel beds, a capacity increase of 750 beds compared to the previous year. Regarding the number of hotels, it steadily decreased between 2012 and 2016 from 99 to 90 hotels, before increasing again to 93 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 985 million euros originated from the Flemish region. Furthermore, approximately 655 million euros came from the Brussels-Capital Region, whereas just under 380 million euros of the total revenue of the hotel industry was generated in the Walloon region.

最大城市人口在12-01-2023达2,121,992.000人，相较于12-01-2022的2,109,631.000人有所增长。最大城市人口数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2023期间平均值为1,701,310.500人，共64份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2023，达2,121,992.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1960，为1,484,676.000人。CEIC提供的最大城市人口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。

Belgium has a multicultural landscape; a variety of nationalities coexist in the country. Brussels houses most of the European Union institutions. This is the reason behind the nickname "capital of Europe". In 2020, over one million foreigners were living in the country. Of the variety of nationalities in Belgium, three main origins were present on its soil. In 2020, around 485,340 people originated from France, Italy, or the Netherlands.

The migration flow in Belgium

Migration has always been part of human history. However, it is still one of society's most controversial topics. Nowadays, immigration within the European Union is primarily influenced by economic reasons. In 2020, the migration flow amounted to about 117,500 people coming to Belgium. Meanwhile, 55,769 nationals emigrated abroad.

Belgian’s views on immigration

Although Belgium has known many migration waves in its past, views on the matter still divide. In 2017, opinions in Belgium on immigrants coming from outside the EU were varied. Nonetheless, the fifth most common origin of foreigners in Belgium was Moroccan. In recent years, more than 60 percent of Belgians believed too many immigrants lived in the country. However, Belgians regarded EU citizens immigrating to their country positively.

In Belgium, the Federal Police registers a steady number of human trafficking cases. Around three to four hundred cases are reported each year. In 2022, 350 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 780 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.

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.

The most office real estate space in Flanders, Belgium was found in Antwerp. Antwerp's office stock amounted to almost 2.4 million square meters in 2021, compared to 1.4 million square meters in Ghent, which was the second largest market in Flanders.

The total completions of office space in the Brussels, Belgium peaked in 2021, after experiencing one the lowest levels in 2019. Belgium has four different levels of government, one federal and three regional. The Brussels Capital Region consists of the city of Brussels, alongside several surrounding villages. The source, however, only talks about the city of Brussels. In the first quarter of 2022, approximately 33,300 square meters of office real estate was completed in Brussels.

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.

In 2020, hotels in Amsterdam hosted the largest share of overnight guests from Belgium in the Netherlands, whereas hotels in Utrecht recorded the lowest number of Belgian overnight visitors. Nearly 130 thousand overnight guests from Belgium stayed in hotels in Amsterdam in 2020. Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 Belgian visitors stayed overnight in hotels in Rotterdam.