Figures released by the Belgian Bureau of Staistics Statbel show that the percentage of people of working age (20 to 64) that are in work in Belgium rose by 0.2 percentage points to 72.1%. However, there are big regional differences with Flanders still being well ahead of the other 2 regions when it comes to the percentage of the working population that is in work.
The figures also show that or the first time since the 1990’s the employment rate in the Brussels-Capital Region is higher than in Wallonia. In 2023 66.5% of the working population in Brussels were in work. This is 1 percentage point higher that the 65.5% of Walloons of working age that had a job. In Flanders 76.8% of the working population is in employment.
In 2023 4,879,000 people in Belgium were in work. Although the employment rate is rising it is still considerably lower than the target of an 80% employment rate in 2030. Statbel warns that in order to reach this target an additional 550,000 people in Belgium between the ages of 20 and 64 will need to find employment. Currently East and West Flanders are the only two provinces in Belgium with employment rates of almost 80%.
More men of working age (75.9%) procent) than women 68.3% are in employment.
Unemployment remains stable
Unemployment in Belgium remained stable at 5.6% in 2023. Here too there are big regional differences. In Flanders unemployment was just 3.3%, in Wallonia this was 8.2% and the Brussels-Capital Region had the highest unemployment rate (10.7%).
Meanwhile, almost a quarter of Belgians are “inactive”. This means that they are not in employment, looking for a job or available for work in the immediate future. Here too there are regional differences. In Flanders 20% of the working population is “inactive”. In Brussels this is 25.7% and in Wallonia 28.9% of the working population is “inactive”.