0
Belgium · data for latest available · data as of 26 October 2026 · printed 27 Oct 2026
NationsTree / Countries / Belgium
2025
Flag of Belgium

Belgium

Europe & Central Asia Capital Brussels High income Nation age 196 years (since 1830) i BEL · BE
NationsTree Index 2025 i77.99th of 196 Tree height 2025 i20 msee ranking Military strength i62percentile
Population i11.9 m81st of 217 Area i30,689 km²137th of 216 GDP i$725.47 bn22nd of 210 GDP (PPP) i$891.76 bn intl.37th of 199 GDP per person (PPP) i$74,676 intl.24th of 199 Life expectancy i82.3 years31st of 217
Index pillars
Foundations · roots i83
Strength · trunk i81
Quality of life · crown i86
Problems (higher = fewer) · dry branches i73
Direction (5-year change) · new shoots i47
CSV

In short

Belgium is 9th of 196 countries in the NationsTree Index, with a score of 77.9 out of 100; its tree is 20 m tall.

It has 11.9 million people and an economy of $891.76 bn at purchasing power parity, 37th of 199 in the world.

Its strongest positions: Access to electricity (1st of 215), Secondary enrolment (2nd of 173) and Human Development Index (10th of 193).

Its weakest positions: General government gross debt (175th of 189), CO₂ emissions per person (173rd of 203) and GDP growth (176th of 210).

Over five years it fell from 8th to 9th in the index.

All data

Data as of 26 October 2026

Latest available value for each indicator, with its year. World rank is among countries with recent data (last 5 years of the series).

Land & people

57
Surface area ikm² 30,689 137th/216
Land area ikm² 30,494 136th/216
Population ipeople 11.9 m 81st/217
Population growth i% 0.70% 121st/217
Population density ipeople/km² 388.9 29th/216
Urban population i% 87.7% 42nd/217
Population aged 0–14 i% 15.7% 170th/217
Population aged 65+ i% 21.0% 28th/217

Economy

61
GDP iUSD $725.47 bn 22nd/210
GDP (PPP) iintl. USD $891.76 bn 37th/199
Real GDP (PPP, constant 2021 prices) iintl. USD 2021 $758.16 bn 38th/199
GDP per person iUSD $60,750 22nd/210
GDP per person (PPP) iintl. USD $74,676 24th/199
GNI per person (Atlas) iUSD $59,500 21st/201
GDP growth i% 1.0% 176th/210
Inflation i% 2.5% 78th/180
Unemployment i% 5.9% 107th/187
General government gross debt i% of GDP 107.9% 175th/189
Government budget balance i% of GDP -5.2% 152nd/192

Main industries

46
Agriculture, forestry, fishing i% of GDP 0.7% 176th/197
Industry incl. construction i% of GDP 18.6% 134th/200
Manufacturing i% of GDP 11.2% 87th/192
Services i% of GDP 71.2% 31st/200

Trade

69
Exports of goods & services iUSD $547.36 bn 19th/182
Imports of goods & services iUSD $562.00 bn 18th/182
Exports i% of GDP 75.5% 22nd/183
Imports i% of GDP 77.5% 24th/183
Trade openness i% of GDP 152.9% 20th/183
Fuel exports i% of merchandise exports 10.2% 48th/170
Manufactures exports i% of merchandise exports 69.4% 43rd/171
Food exports i% of merchandise exports 13.8% 94th/171
Ores & metals exports i% of merchandise exports 4.1% 71st/171
High-tech exports i% of manufactured exports 19.8% 33rd/168
Current account balance i% of GDP -1.9% 99th/191
Foreign direct investment, inflows i% of GDP -4.0% 194th/196

Natural resources

49
Natural resource rents i% of GDP 0.0% 164th/209
Oil rents i% of GDP 0.03% 91st/197
Natural gas rents i% of GDP 0.00% 97th/197
Coal rents i% of GDP 0.00% 68th/195
Mineral rents i% of GDP 0.00% 91st/209
Forest rents i% of GDP 0.01% 148th/209
Arable land i% of land area 28.3% 33rd/206
Renewable freshwater per person im³ 1,027 125th/183

Tourism

63
International tourist arrivals iarrivals 2.6 m 57th/194
Tourism receipts iUSD $7.45 bn 25th/175
Tourism receipts i% of exports 1.8% 135th/168
Outbound trips idepartures 5.9 m 27th/107

Society & health

87
Life expectancy iyears 82.3 31st/217
Under-5 mortality iper 1,000 births 3.7 26th/196
Physicians iper 1,000 people 3.57 43rd/174
Hospital beds iper 1,000 people 5.4 23rd/145
DPT immunization i% of children 12–23 months 97% 29th/193
Completed lower secondary, 25+ i% of adults 88.9% 51st/153
Secondary enrolment i% gross 143.0% 2nd/173
Old-age dependency ratio i% of working-age population 33.1% 27th/217
Health spending i% of GDP 10.8% 19th/193
Tertiary enrolment i% gross 82.1% 22nd/150
Human Development Index iindex 0–1 0.951 10th/193
Income inequality (Gini) iindex 26.8 9th/108
Extreme poverty i% of population 0.1% 10th/108

Infrastructure & digital

79
Access to electricity i% of population 100.0% 1st/215
Safely managed drinking water i% of population 99.5% 25th/150
Safely managed sanitation i% of population 94.9% 25th/144
Internet users i% of population 95.8% 20th/186
Mobile subscriptions iper 100 people 104 134th/210
Fixed broadband iper 100 people 44.2 17th/208
Trade & transport infrastructure quality (LPI) iscore 1–5 4.10 9th/164
Rail lines iroute-km 3,612 37th/82
Air passengers carried ipassengers 11.4 m 46th/161

Environment & energy

52
CO₂ emissions per person it CO₂e 7.31 173rd/203
Renewable energy i% of final energy use 11.7% 136th/212
Air pollution (PM2.5) iµg/m³ 8.4 35th/200
Forest area i% of land area 22.0% 128th/214
Energy use per person ikg oil eq. 4,077 21st/149

Institutions & safety

82
Government effectiveness iscore 0–100 79.3 25th/205
Control of corruption iscore 0–100 75.6 23rd/207
Rule of law iscore 0–100 79.5 27th/207
Political stability iscore 0–100 68.6 101st/207
Regulatory quality iscore 0–100 76.3 22nd/205
Voice & accountability iscore 0–100 83.9 12th/205
Homicide rate iper 100,000 1.1 44th/145

Military

55
Military expenditure iUSD $14.53 bn 28th/156
Military expenditure i% of GDP 2.0% 64th/156
Military expenditure i% of government spending 3.7% 119th/154
Armed forces personnel ipeople 24,000 96th/170
Armed forces personnel i% of labour force 0.47% 120th/168
Arms imports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 430.0 m 25th/163
Arms exports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 86.0 m 27th/65

Science & innovation

84
R&D spending i% of GDP 3.27% 7th/110
Patent applications by residents iapplications 647 40th/137
Scientific articles iarticles 16,816 28th/197

Compare Belgium with

IrelandKazakhstanNetherlandsRomaniaSwedenSwitzerland

Sources

Figures on this page come from: World Bank — World Development Indicators, International Monetary Fund — World Economic Outlook (DataMapper), Global Change Data Lab (Our World in Data) — Our World in Data, World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators . Nation age: Wikidata P571 (inception) (source). Every value is stored with its year and source series; see Sources & licences and Methodology.

Cite as: NationsTree (2026). Belgium — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/belgium. Data as of 26 October 2026.

All figures come from official statistics published by public institutions (World Bank WDI and WGI, compiling UN agencies, IMF, WHO and national statistical offices). Each value carries its year; ranks are positions among countries with data.
Cite as: NationsTree (2026). Belgium — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/belgium. Data as of 26 October 2026.
Comparison0 / 5
Compare