The job vacancy rate in Belgium fell by 4% in the third quarter of the year. Jobs were mainly filled in the services, accommodation and catering sectors.
Figures from Belgian statistical office Statbel measure the job vacancy rate as the total number of job vacancies in relation to the total number of positions within a company.
Across the country in the third quarter, Belgian companies had 176,564 job vacancies on offer, compared to 184,015 in the second quarter of 2024. The total job vacancy rate fell from 4.35% to 4.21%.
The number of vacant jobs has decreased in all three regions. There was a drop of 6,101 vacant positions in Flanders, 1,089 in the Brussels-Capital Region and 261 in Wallonia compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Flanders had the highest number of job vacancies, with two in three unfilled roles (66.01%) in the region. Meanwhile, 21.55% of job vacancies were in Wallonia, and 12.44% were in the Brussels-Capital Region.
The job vacancy rate remains higher in Flanders (4.67%) than in the Brussels-Capital Region (3.55%) and Wallonia (3.55%).
Job centre in Brussels. Credit: Lauren Walker / The Brussels Times
In terms of the number of job vacancies, there are 4.5 times more open roles in large and medium-sized companies than smaller businesses. However, the job vacancy rate is highest in small businesses (6.28%) than in large and medium-sized enterprises (3.93%).
More than three quarters of vacant jobs (81.0%) are in five economic sectors: the non-profit sector, science and services, commerce, industry and construction.
The job vacancy rate is decreasing mainly in the other services (-1.37 percentage points) and accommodation and catering (-1.37 points) sectors, while it is increasing mainly in real estate activities (+1.42 points).
The job vacancy rate remains the highest in the construction sector (7.46%) and is the lowest in the other services sector (2.58%).
