World Factbook
Belgium
Royaume de Belgique (French)/Koninkrijk Belgie (Dutch)/Koenigreich Belgien (German)
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
Languages
Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%
major-language sample(s)
Het Wereld Feitenboek, een onmisbare bron van informatie. (Dutch) The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 2.3%, other Christian, 2.8%, Muslim 6.8%, other 1.7%, atheist 9.1%, nonbeliever/agnostic 20.2% (2018 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.02 male(s)/female
total population
0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.8 male(s)/female
Birth rate
9.09 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
9.55 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
40.8 years
total
42.4 years (2025 est.)
female
43.1 years
Population
male
5,907,498
total
11,960,170 (2025 est.)
female
6,052,672
Nationality
noun
Belgian(s)
adjective
Belgian
Tobacco use
male
26.4% (2025 est.)
total
24.1% (2025 est.)
female
22% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
98.2% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
16.9% (male 1,038,578/female 990,215)
15-64 years
62.8% (male 3,796,844/female 3,730,784)
65 years and over
20.2% (2024 est.) (male 1,073,635/female 1,347,578)
Ethnic groups
Belgian 75.2%, Italian 4.1%, Moroccan 3.7%, French 2.4%, Turkish 2%, Dutch 2%, other 10.6% (2012 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15
0% (2020)
women married by age 18
0.1% (2020)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
57.6 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
24.9 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
3.1 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
32.6 (2025 est.)
Physician density
6.53 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
11% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
15.2% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
4.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
5.5 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.46 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
6.3% of GDP (2022 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
12% national budget (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
3.5 deaths/1,000 live births
total
3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
2.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.45% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.71 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
most of the population is concentrated in the northern two thirds of the country; the southeast is more thinly populated; considered to have one of the highest population densities in the world, with approximately 97% living in urban areas
Life expectancy at birth
male
79.7 years
female
85 years
total population
82.3 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
4 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
4.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
3.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
9.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
1.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.3 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
2.122 million BRUSSELS (capital), 1.057 million Antwerp (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
22.1% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
29.2 years (2020 est.)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
52.4% (2021 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
0.3% (2023 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
18 years (2022 est.)
total
19 years (2022 est.)
female
20 years (2022 est.)