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 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 June of 2025.

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 the largest city (% of urban population) in Belgium was reported at 18.38 % 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 April 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.;;

How many coworking spaces are there in Belgium? According to calculations, there were close to 200 coworking centers in the country in 2019. Together, these made up less than one percent of the total office market in the country. In Brussels, however, the share of flexible workspaces made up more than 20 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 two million square meters of office space in 2018, whereas Brussels would have around 12.5 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 15 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 4,000 in the northern, Belgian Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. The vacancy rate of offices in Brussels also reached its lowest value in 2018.

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.

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 500,000 square meters of office space, whereas Ypres was ranked the lowest of the 20 cities in this ranking.

The Urban Atlas is providing pan-European comparable land use and land cover data for Large Urban Zones with more than 100.000 inhabitants as defined by the Urban Audit. Urban Atlas' mission is to provide high-resolution hotspot mapping of changes in urban spaces and indicators for users such as city governments, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and European Commission departments.

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.

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.

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.

最大城市人口在12-01-2024达2,132,178.000人，相较于12-01-2023的2,121,992.000人有所增长。最大城市人口数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2024期间平均值为1,703,259.000人，共65份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2024，达2,132,178.000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。

This data set can be used to reproduce the analyses made by the authors in their paper “Morphological delineation of cities based on scaling properties of urban patterns: a comparison of three methods”. It contains 12 shapefiles that represent theoretical urban patterns and 4 shapefiles that can be used to delineate the morphological agglomeration of Brussels (Belgium). It also contains a R script to calculate the carrying capacity of a logistic percolation function.Description of each file2_Figure_1: theoretical street network for testing the Natural Cities method3_Figure_2: theoretical street network for the comparison of two variants of the Natural Cities method4_Figure_3: theoretical street network to evaluate the effects of the spatial extent of the study area on the delineation of Natural Cities5_Figure_5a: theoretical pattern for testing MorphoLim (building footprints) – dense urban core6_Figure_5b: theoretical pattern for testing MorphoLim (building footprints) – less dense urban core7_Figure_6: theoretical pattern (building footprints) to evaluate the effects of the geographic extent of the study area on the delineation with MorphoLim8_Percolation_C_Calculation: R code to calculate the carrying capacity of a logistic function (Hierarchical Percolation)9_Figure_7: theoretical street network for testing Hierarchical Percolation10_Figure_8: theoretical polycentric street network for testing Hierarchical Percolation 11_Figure_9ac: theoretical urban pattern crossed by a large non built area (road intersections)12_Figure_9b: theoretical urban pattern crossed by a large non built area (building footprints)13_Figure_10ac: theoretical pattern where a built ribbon links two urban centres (roads intersections )14_Figure_10b: theoretical pattern where a built ribbon links two urban centres (building footprints)15_Belgium_buildings: cadastral data of buildings (2D) for Belgium (© 2009 Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale)16_Brabant_buildings: cadastral data of buildings (2D) for the province of Brabant (© 2009 Administration Générale de la Documentation Patrimoniale)17_Belgium_roads: road network data come from the platform Geofabrik of OpenStreetMap (http://download.geofabrik.de, accessed 08/21/2018) for Belgium18_Brabant_roads: Road network data come from the platform Geofabrik of OpenStreetMap (http://download.geofabrik.de, accessed 08/21/2018) for the province of Brabant.

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.

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.

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.

What is the price of a house in Belgium? In 2022, a house in Belgium would cost approximately 319,000 euros. However, that there are large price differences between the three Belgian regions. A house in the Brussels Capital-Region (the city of Brussels along and its surrounding villages) cost about double the price of a house in Wallonia. Of the Belgian provinces, houses in Hainaut were the cheapest. The ranking shown here only includes what in Flemish Dutch is referred to as “woonhuizen” and as “maisons” in French and therefore does not include apartments.

How much is an apartment in Belgium?

In 2022, an apartment in Belgium would cost approximately 260,000 euros. Apartment prices increased by about four percent compared to 2021, which was lower than the house prices (eight percent).

Is residential property in Belgium expensive when compared to the rest of Europe?

The house price index (HPI) of Belgium did not increase as fast as that of other European countries in 2022. Residential property in Belgium (which includes both newly constructed as well as existing property) increased by six percent between the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, whereas prices in Estonia and Czechia increased by more than 20 percent.

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.