Belgium
population: Official estimate (1 Apr 2026) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 31 metros tracked
🗺️ Geography31 metros
Belgium metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.
Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.
🏙️ 31 tracked metros
Show all 31 rows
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions
11 entries listed under Belgium across 2 types. Click any to see its metros and footprint.
Provinces (10)
Capital Regions (1)
📋 At a glance
- Official languages
- French, German, Dutch
- Currency
- Euro (€)
- Government
- Federation
- Legislature
- Belgian Federal Parliament
- Constitution
- 1831, 36 amendment events since
- Demonym
- Belgian
- Time zones
- UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00
- Driving side
- Right
- Calling code
- +32
- Internet TLD
- .be
- ISO 3166
- BE
- Established
- 1830
- Highest point
- Signal de Botrange (694 m (2,277 ft))
- National anthem
- The Brabançonne
Facts via Wikidata.
💹 Economy and developmentHigh income
Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.
🏛️ Leadership History20 leaders · click to expand
marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.
Kingdom of Belgium
Bart De Wever✦ Current
2025–PresentPrime Minister
Alexander De Croo
2020–2024Prime Minister
Sophie Wilmès
2019–2020Prime Minister
Charles Michel
2014–2019Prime Minister
Elio Di Rupo
2011–2014Prime Minister
Yves Leterme
2009–2011Prime Minister
Herman Van Rompuy
2008–2009Prime Minister
Guy Verhofstadt
1999–2008Prime Minister
Jean-Luc Dehaene
1992–1999Prime Minister
Wilfried Martens
1979–1992Prime Minister
Leo Tindemans
1974–1978Prime Minister
Gaston Eyskens
1958–1961Prime Minister
Show all 20 leaders
Paul-Henri Spaak
1947–1949Prime Minister
👑 King Philippe✦ Current
2013–PresentMonarch
👑 King Albert II
1993–2013Monarch
👑 King Baudouin
1951–1993Monarch
👑 King Leopold III
1934–1951Monarch
👑 King Albert I
1909–1934Monarch
⚠️ 👑 King Leopold II
1865–1909Monarch
👑 King Leopold I
1831–1865Monarch
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Bart De Wever✦ Current | Prime Minister | 2025–Present |
| Alexander De Croo | Prime Minister | 2020–2024 |
| Sophie Wilmès | Prime Minister | 2019–2020 |
| Charles Michel | Prime Minister | 2014–2019 |
| Elio Di Rupo | Prime Minister | 2011–2014 |
| Yves Leterme | Prime Minister | 2009–2011 |
| Herman Van Rompuy | Prime Minister | 2008–2009 |
| Guy Verhofstadt | Prime Minister | 1999–2008 |
| Jean-Luc Dehaene | Prime Minister | 1992–1999 |
| Wilfried Martens | Prime Minister | 1979–1992 |
| Leo Tindemans | Prime Minister | 1974–1978 |
| Gaston Eyskens | Prime Minister | 1958–1961 |
| Paul-Henri Spaak | Prime Minister | 1947–1949 |
| 👑 King Philippe✦ Current | Monarch | 2013–Present |
| 👑 King Albert II | Monarch | 1993–2013 |
| 👑 King Baudouin | Monarch | 1951–1993 |
| 👑 King Leopold III | Monarch | 1934–1951 |
| 👑 King Albert I | Monarch | 1909–1934 |
| ⚠️ 👑 King Leopold II | Monarch | 1865–1909 |
| 👑 King Leopold I | Monarch | 1831–1865 |
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.
⚔️ Conflicts since 19455 interstate wars · click to expand
| Conflict | Years | Against | Combat deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korean War [ 9 ]● | 1950–1953 | North Korea,China,Soviet Union | 2,568,927–4,096,927 |
| World War II● | 1939–1945 | Germany,Japan,Italy,Hungary,Romania,Bulgaria,Finland,Thailand,and others... | — |
| World War I● | 1914–1918 | German Empire,Austria-Hungary,Ottoman Empire,Bulgaria | — |
| Mahdist War | 1881–1899 | Mahdist Sudan | — |
| French intervention in Mexico● | 1861–1867 | Mexico United Mexican States,United States of America (entered in 1865) | — |
Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”
👥 Population over time
Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.
👥 To 2100
The UN’s probabilistic projection for Belgium: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.
Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.
What drives it
Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.
Show all 16 decades
Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.
💰 Billionaires16 · $51.8B combined · click to expand
Show all 16 rows
| # | Name | Net worth | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 414 | Eric Wittouck(inherited) | $9.0B | Finance & Investments |
| 815 | Nicolas D'Ieteren(inherited) | $5.2B | Automotive |
| 844 | Fernand Huts | $5.1B | Logistics |
| 954 | Fabien Pinckaers | $4.5B | Technology |
| 978 | Alexandre Van Damme(inherited) | $4.4B | Food & Beverage |
| 1255 | Catheline Perier D'Ieteren(inherited) | $3.5B | Automotive |
| 1303 | Segolene Gallienne(inherited) | $3.3B | Manufacturing |
| 1308 | Theo Roussis(inherited) | $3.3B | Manufacturing |
| 1456 | Gerald Frere(inherited) | $2.9B | Manufacturing |
| 1708 | Pierre van der Mersch & family | $2.5B | Finance & Investments |
| 2481 | Pacal Vanhalst & family(inherited) | $1.7B | Finance & Investments |
| 2551 | Roland Duchatelet & family | $1.6B | Technology |
| 2714 | Filip Balcaen & family(inherited) | $1.5B | Diversified |
| 3031 | Patokh Chodiev | $1.2B | Metals & Mining |
| 3165 | Phillippe Van de Vyvere(inherited) | $1.2B | Logistics |
| 3246 | Charles Beauduin(inherited) | $1.1B | Diversified |
Source: Forbes real-time billionaires (via the rtb-api project). Net worth as of the latest monthly snapshot.
🏆 National Teams
Belgium on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.