Belgium received nearly 62,000 extra inhabitants in 2024
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Belgium had 11,825,551 inhabitants at the beginning of this year. The population grew with 61,901 units in a year, because more people moved to our country than people pulled away. The Belgian statistics agency Statbel reported this on Wednesday.
The increase by 0.52 percent is the result of migration flows. More than 194,000 people came to live in Belgium last year, while more than 128,000 moved elsewhere. In this way the population grew with 66,000 units. In addition, there was a negative natural course: more people died (around 112,000) than babies were born (more than 108,000).
The population has been increasing for years. Belgium has had more than 11 million inhabitants since 2012. The Planning Bureau previously predicted that our country will have 12.9 million inhabitants in 2070.
On January 1, Flanders had 6,864,766 inhabitants, an increase with 42,996 people or 0.63 percent in a year. The largest growth was in the province of Antwerp: +14,247 inhabitants or +0.75 percent, up to 1,921,189 inhabitants at the beginning of this year.
The average age of the Belgian population has increased to 42 years. Six out of ten inhabitants are between 18 and 64, just under fifth is a minor and a little more than one fifth is 65-year-old. Furthermore, the share of people over 80 rose to 5.6 percent of the population, where that was 3.8 percent thirty years ago, for example. The population also consists of slightly more women (5,995,529) than men (5,830,022).
