Belgians thinking of moving to their country's capital city to find work might want to reconsider: salaries in Brussels are the lowest in Belgium – by far.
The average income in Brussels was just €16,068 in 2021 (the most recent year for which there is available data by Statbel, Belgium's official statistics office).
This is significantly less than the average salary in Wallonia (€19,192) and Flanders (€21,776), and more than €4,000 lower than the overall Belgian average of €20,357.
"The inhabitants of the Walloon and Brussels-Capital Regions are considerably lagging behind financially," the report noted. "The average income in the Walloon Region is 5.7% below the Belgian average, whereas people from the Brussels-Capital Region make 21.1% less on a yearly basis."
Provincial poverty
Brussels also ranked below all of Belgium's ten provinces in terms of average income. Indeed, at €17,713, salaries in the poorest province, Hainaut, were almost €2,000 higher than those in the capital.
Moreover, not a single one of Belgium's ten richest municipalities were located in Brussels. Conversely, the three poorest municipalities were all based in the capital, namely Saint-Josse-ten-Hoode (€11,082), Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (€11,774) and Anderlecht (€12,965).
Three other Brussels municipalities were among the ten poorest in the country, namely Koekelberg (€13,963), Schaerbeek (€14,031) and the City of Brussels (€14,384).
The income gap between Brussels and Belgium's other regions has also widened over the last few years. In 2016, salaries in Flanders and Wallonia were, respectively, €5,122 and €2,807 higher than they were in Brussels, compared to €5,708 and €3,124 today.
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Statbel's report also comes just a month after the Central Economic Council, Belgium's main economic forecasting body, predicted that wages in Belgium will rise by less than previously estimated compared to neighbouring countries next year.
In particular, the CEC predicted that salaries in Belgium will increase by 1.7% in comparison to neighbouring states by the end of 2024 (relative to a reference year of 1996). Last year, the CEC forecast that wages would grow by almost three times as much (4.6%) over this period.
The Statbel study also follows another recent report by the International Monetary Fund, which predicted that inflation – which erodes citizens' real income – will rise from 2.5% this year to above 4% in 2024.
