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Belgium

Belgium ranks 7th of 28 overall, 11th of 28 on economy and 7th of 28 on quality of life, among the 28 countries (the UK and the 27 EU member states). Scores use 21 ranked metrics from published sources (snapshot of 6 November 2026); each metric below names its source, vintage and fetch date.

Overall rank

7th of 28

Rank under alternative calculations: 8th without multinational-sensitive measures; 6th with rank-based scoring. About these alternatives

Pillar ranks

  • Economy11th of 2811 of 11 metrics
  • Quality of life7th of 2810 of 10 metrics

Overall rank over time

Rank 1 is the top of the table; the line is drawn with rank 1 at the top.

Overall rank, 2000 to 2025: 8th to 7th6th7th8th9th10th200020052010201520202025June 20167thOverall rank, 2000 to 2025: 8th to 7th6th7th8th9th10th200020102020June 20167th

2000: 8th · 2025: 7th

Scorecard by pillar

Each metric is ranked among the 28 countries with a value. Missing values are left out, not filled in.

Economy

Economy metrics for Belgium
Trend, 2000 to latest
Employment rate, ages 15+51.4 % of population aged 15+202423rd of 28ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization) · DF_EMP_2WAP_SEX_AGE_RT · vintage ILO LAST_UPDATE 2025-12-02 · fetched 2026-11-06
FDI inflows, % of GDP-3.97 % of GDP (net inflows)202526th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · BX.KLT.DINV.WD.GD.ZS · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
GNI per head, PPP62,975 international $ (constant 2021 PPP)20247th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · NY.GNP.PCAP.PP.KD · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Government debt, % of GDP107.9 % of GDP (general government gross debt)202525th of 28International Monetary Fund, DataMapper (World Economic Outlook) · GGXWDG_NGDP · vintage World Economic Outlook (October 2026), dataset last modified 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Inflation, consumer prices3.00 % change on previous year (annual average)202516th of 28International Monetary Fund, DataMapper (World Economic Outlook) · PCPIPCH · vintage World Economic Outlook (October 2026), dataset last modified 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Investment, % of GDP23.9 % of GDP (gross fixed capital formation)20256th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · NE.GDI.FTOT.ZS · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
GDP per hour worked90.1 USD per hour worked, PPP, constant prices20244th of 26OECD statistics, read through the DBnomics mirror (provider code OECD) · DSD_PDB@DF_PDB_LV/BEL.A.GDPHRS._T.USD_PPP_H.Q._Z._Z._Z · vintage 2026-04-07 · fetched 2026-11-06
Real GDP growth1.00 % change on previous year, real terms202519th of 28International Monetary Fund, DataMapper (World Economic Outlook) · NGDP_RPCH · vintage World Economic Outlook (October 2026), dataset last modified 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
R&D spending, % of GDP3.27 % of GDP (gross domestic expenditure on R&D)20232nd of 28UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · EXPGDP.TOT · vintage as fetched 2026-11-06 · fetched 2026-11-06
Trade openness, % of GDP152.9 % of GDP (exports plus imports of goods and services)20257th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Unemployment rate6.20 % of labour force202520th of 28International Monetary Fund, DataMapper (World Economic Outlook) · LUR · vintage World Economic Outlook (October 2026), dataset last modified 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06

Quality of life

Quality of life metrics for Belgium
Trend, 2000 to latest
Government effectiveness1.32 WGI estimate, about −2.5 (weak) to +2.5 (strong)202510th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · GOV_WGI_GE.EST · vintage 2026-09-25 · fetched 2026-11-06
Human Development Index0.951 index (0 to 1)20235th of 28Our World in Data (Human Development Index, UNDP-derived) · human-development-index · vintage 2025-05-07 · fetched 2026-11-06
Healthy life expectancy69.9 years (at birth, both sexes)202310th of 28WHO Global Health Observatory · WHOSIS_000002 · vintage WHO GHO record date 2026-10-01 · fetched 2026-11-06
Homicide rate1.080 intentional homicides per 100,000 people2021†16th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · VC.IHR.PSRC.P5 · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Household consumption per head, PPP28,756 international $ (constant 2021 PPP)20256th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · NE.CON.PCAP.PP.KD · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Income inequality, Gini26.4 index (0 to 100)20225th of 27World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · SI.POV.GINI · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Life expectancy at birth82.3 years202410th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · SP.DYN.LE00.IN · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
Life satisfaction (0–10)6.93 Cantril ladder, mean of 0–10 (three-year average)20257th of 28World Happiness Report (Gallup life evaluations) · life_evaluation_3yr_avg · vintage 2026 · fetched 2026-11-06
PISA mean score486.3 PISA score points (mean of reading, mathematics and science)20229th of 27OECD statistics, read through the DBnomics mirror (provider code OECD) · PISA-2022-database · vintage pisa_2022 · fetched 2026-11-06
Air pollution, PM2.58.4 micrograms per cubic metre (mean annual exposure)20238th of 28World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3 · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06

Context metrics (shown, not ranked)

These measures are shown for context. They are not part of either pillar score or the overall rank.

Context metrics for Belgium, not ranked
Trend, 2000 to latest
GDP per head, PPP63,488 international $ (constant 2021 PPP)2025World Bank Indicators (WDI and WGI) · NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD · vintage 2026-10-08 · fetched 2026-11-06
House price to income index96.7 index relative to a base year (not a ratio in years; base differs by country)2024OECD statistics, read through the DBnomics mirror (provider code OECD) · DSD_AN_HOUSE_PRICES@DF_HOUSE_PRICES/BEL.A.HPI_YDH.IX · vintage 2026-06-16 · fetched 2026-11-06
Household disposable income per head41,434 USD (PPP) per person, gross disposable income of households2024OECD statistics, read through the DBnomics mirror (provider code OECD) · DSD_NAAG@DF_NAAG_V/A.BEL.B6GS1M_POP.USD_PPP_PS.NAAG_V · vintage 2026-06-16 · fetched 2026-11-06
Trust in institutions5.50 mean of 0–10 trust scores (parliament, legal system, police)2023European Social Survey · trstprl,trstlgl,trstplc · vintage ess_round11 · fetched 2026-11-06

Sources