On 1 January 2024, Belgium counted 11,763,650 inhabitants, up 66,093 or 0.57 per cent on the year. The growth is due to immigration, as more people died than babies that were born. The figures come from Statbel, Belgium's statistics office.
Belgium's population reaches 11.7 million, growth only due to immigration
Colin Clapson
Published:
Population growth in 2023 is due to international migration: +66,349. More people moved to Belgium than left. Yet again in 2023 more people died than were born here: -1,057. Population growth in 2023 was slightly higher than the average of the last decade: +0.53 per cent.
The war in Ukraine is still having a positive impact on the immigration figure, although, according to Statbel, it is a lot less pronounced than in 2022. “The natural balance – the difference between the number of deaths and births - has shown a downward trend for several years now. A negative natural balance seems to be becoming the new normal”.
A negative natural balance resurfaced for the first time in almost 80 years in 2020 (-13,111). “That year was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed up the number of deaths,” Statbel notes. This was followed by another negative natural balance in 2022 (-2,787).