To which language should you translate to localize in Belgium?

GDP
725.47 billion USD (2025)

Trade – Economic Complexity Index
Ranked 19th out of 130 countries

The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) measures the sophistication and diversity of a country’s exports.

Product Imports
$427 billion (2024)

Service Imports
$174.99 billion (2024)

Market Growth Imports
0.1% of annual growth (2025)

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 98.2% have an account with a financial institution
• 49.8% have a credit card
• 97.3% make digital payment

Active E-commerce
56,403 active stores

GDP Growth (annual %)
1%

GDP per Capita
$60,750.3 (2024)

Product Exports
$393 billion USD (2024)

Service Exports
$159.87 billion (2024)

Market Growth Exports
-0.3% of annual growth (2025)

Main online stores
Amazon Belgium, AliExpress, bol.com, Coolblue, Vanden Borre, Fnac Belgium, Zalando, Collect&Go (Colruyt), Decathlon, MediaMarkt, Farmaline, La Redoute

Global Startup Ecosystem Index
Belgium ranked 23rd out of 100 countries, 7.5% of annual ecosystem growth

The Global Startup Ecosystem Index ranks countries and by the strength of their startup ecosystems. It evaluates factors such as startup activity, ecosystem quality, and the business environment for entrepreneurship.

Media language Dutch, French

The press

Het Laatste Nieuws, De Morgen, De Tijd, De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen

News Agency

Belga News Agency, Belgaimage, Belga Press, VRT NWS Newsroom, RTBF Info Newsroom, VTM Nieuws Newsroom

Magazines

Humo, Dag Allemaal, Story Belgium, Moustique, Médor, MO Magazine

Television

VRT 1, VRT Canvas, Ketnet, VTM, VTM 2, VTM 3.

Radio

VRT Radio 1, VRT Radio 2, Studio Brussel, MNM, Klara, Radio Bene.

Internet users
99.0% penetration, 5.95 million

Share of web traffic by device
49.62% mobile phones, 47,93% computers (laptops and desktops), 2.39% tablet devices and 0.05% other devices

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
104.85 Mbps (Download)
12.18 Mbps (Upload)

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
122.11 Mbps (Download)
21.34 Mbps (Upload)

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 102%

Most popular web search engines
Google (90.39%), Bing (5.86%), DuckDuckGo (1.10%), Ecosia (1.09%), Yahoo! (0.89%), Yandex (0.47%), Qwant (0.13%), Other (0.07%)

Share of AI web traffic referrals
ChatGPT (82.71%), Microsoft Copilot (11.13%), Perplexity (4.23%), Google Gemini (1.27%), Claude (0.59%), DeepSeek (0.07%)

Most used social media
WhatsApp (29.8%), Facebook (21.2%), Instagram (15.1%), TikTok (9.1%), Messenger (7.3%), Snapchat (2.6%), Pinterest (2.4%), X (1.9%), Discord (1.3%), iMessage (0.9%), Telegram (0.8%), LinkedIn (0.6%), Reddit (0.6%), Bluesky (0.3%), Skype (0.3%)

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 99.1%

Life expectancy
82 yrs (2024)

Current health expenditure
10.8% of GDP

Current education expenditure
95.4% of total expenditure in public institutions

CO2 emissions
7.35 metric tons per capita

Corruption perceptions Index
Belgium scored 69 out of 100, ranked 21st out 182 countries worldwide.

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries by perceived levels of public sector corruption. It is based on expert assessments and business surveys, with higher scores indicating lower perceived corruption.

Religion
Roman Catholic (57.1%), None (20.2%), Atheist (9.0%), Muslim (7.8%), Other Christian (4.2%), Protestant (1.4%), Other (0.3%)

Ethnicity
Belgian (75.2%), Other (10.6%), Italian (4.1%), Moroccan (3.7%), French (2.4%), Turkish (1.9%), Dutch (2.1%)

World Happiness Index
Belgium ranked 14th out of 147 countries, with a score of 6.926

The World Happiness Index ranks countries by people’s self-reported life satisfaction. It also considers factors like income, health, social support, freedom, and trust.

R&D Expenditure
3.27% of GDP

World Competitiveness Ranking
Belgium ranked 6th out of 70 countries, with a score of 94.1

The World Competitiveness Ranking measures how well countries create an environment that supports business performance and long-term prosperity.
It evaluates factors such as economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

World Digital Competitiveness Ranking
Belgium ranked 32nd out of 69 countries, with a score of 69

The World Digital Competitiveness Ranking measures how well countries adopt and develop digital technologies to drive economic transformation.
It assesses factors such as knowledge, technology, and future readiness.

Technology – Economic Complexity Index
Ranked 15th out of 97 countries

Research – Economic Complexity Index
Ranked 7th out of 138 countries

The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) measures the sophistication and diversity of a country’s exports.

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 13th out of 39 European countries, and 21st out of 139 countries worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 139 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.