Belgium's employment rate rose last year to 72.1% – a slight increase from 71.9% in 2022.
Out of the working population from ages 20 to 64, new figures from Statbel show that 4,879,000 people were employed in 2023.
To achieve an 80% employment rate by 2030, an additional 550,000 people within the 20 to 64 age bracket must enter the workforce, the statistical office estimates.
More men (75.9%) than women (68.3%) were employed within the same age range last year.
Employment rate of 20 to 64-year-olds by gender. Change in the proportion of the working population in employment, by gender. Credit: Belga
Regional differences can be clearly observed too. In Flanders, 76.8% of people between 20 and 64 work, compared to 66.5% in Brussels and 65.5% in Wallonia. For the first time since the 1990s, Brussels' annual employment rate surpassed that of Wallonia. The highest employment rates were found in west and east Flanders, where 79% of people aged 20 to 64 were working.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) unemployment rate was steady at 5.6% in 2023, virtually unmoved since the previous year. However, notable regional differences exist between unemployment rates in Flanders (3.3%), in Wallonia (8.2%) and in Brussels (10.7%).
Statbel also pointed out that almost a quarter of 20 to 64-year-olds were inactive in 2023. "Inactive" refers to unemployed individuals who were not actively seeking work in the reference month or were unavailable to start work within two weeks. Again, these figures show regional disparities, with inactivity rates of 20% in Flanders, 25.7% in Brussels and 28.9% in Wallonia.
