The median wage has risen significantly in all Belgian regions in the past five years, but nowhere has it increased more than in Brussels.
"Brussels remains the champion in terms of gross wages," Virginie Verschooris, compensation consultant at SD Worx, said.
The median monthly salary of someone working full-time in the capital region is now typically €3,700, human resources service provider SD Worx reported on Tuesday, based on salary data from over 400,000 full-time Belgian employees. This means that half of those surveyed earn more, and half earn less.
The real increase in gross salaries, which excludes year-end bonuses, holiday pay, extra-legal benefits and employer costs, was 2.8% in Brussels compared to January 2023. In five years, the percentage growth was more than 25%.
Flanders and Wallonia
All regions have seen a dramatic increase in wages in the past five years. The largest rises were recorded between January 2021 and January 2022 (wages increased by 6.38%, 6.43% and 6.50% in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia respectively), and between January 2022 and January 2023 (+9.17%, 8.41% and 8.52%, respectively).
This is due to the automatic wage indexation system in Belgium which was triggered as a result of skyrocketing inflation with the aim of protecting purchasing power.
The median gross salary for Walloon workers has risen to €3,100 per month for full-time employment in the private sector, up by 2.09% since last January and by 22.48% in five years, while in Flanders this amount was €3,390 (+2.10 since January 2023 and +22.06% in five years).
However, these general figures hide differences per province. The province of Walloon Brabant has overtaken Flemish Brabant to land in second place when it comes to the largest salary per month.
SD Worx noted that this is because wages in Flemish Brabant increased by less than 2% this year, while in Walloon Brabant, they were 3.17% higher.
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This also marked the largest rise of all areas in Belgium. The increase was more pronounced for blue-collar workers (+4.4%) than for white-collar workers (2.3%) in Walloon Brabant. Brussels still pays best for white-collar workers, followed by Limburg and West Flanders.
In Flanders, the largest increase in median gross wages was observed in West Flanders (2.86%), followed by East Flanders (2.51%). However, the province with the highest median monthly wage in the Flemish region is still Flemish Brabant (€3,564).
