New figures released on Friday show that people from no fewer than 166 different countries live in the Flemish Brabant city of Leuven. Belgians are of course the largest group. Among the foreign nationals that reside in the city that is home to Flanders’ oldest and largest university the Chinese form the largest group. There are almost 2,000 Chinese nationals living in Leuven. The city authorities say that the large number of Chinese people living there is due to the presence of the university and research facilities in the city where graduates and post-graduates find work after having completed their studies.
At the end of 2020 there were 1,879 Chinese nationals living in Leuven. The Alderman responsible for citizens’ affairs in Leuven Dirk Vansina (Christian democrat) told VRT News that “Many Chinese people come here to study as undergraduates of as post-graduates. It’s the cleverest of the bunch that they send here to gain knowledge or to share knowledge in the workplace”.
Apart from the Chinese the largest groups of foreign nationals are the Dutch, Indians and Italians A total of 166 nationality live in what is a relatively small city of just over 102,000 inhabitants.
Mr Vansina told the VRT that "These are above all young people that come here for the KU Leuven and research facilities where graduates work. Our city is the gate to knowledge”. The Alderman is proud of the diversity of his city’s population.
In addition to its just over 102,000 permanent residents the city’s population is swollen each September by the presence of around 50,000 students.