The municipality of Attert, located in the south of Belgium, is the country’s wealthiest, with a median equivalised disposable income of €42,211 in 2022, according to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
In fact, several of the country’s wealthiest municipalities are located close to the border with Luxembourg, with Messancy (€37,226), Etalle (€34,978), Saint-Léger (€34,924), and Arlon (€34,822) also at the upper end of the list.
In the Flanders region, meanwhile, Kraainem (€36,531) and Tervuren (€34,814) were among the highest-income municipalities, while around the capital, Brussels, the richest municipality is Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (€34,690).
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode
At the other end of the scale, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode was identified as the poorest municipality in Belgium, with a median income of €19,288, with Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (€19,739), and Anderlecht (€20,512) also indicating the signifiant income disparities within the Brussels-Capital Region.
The data is based on the administrative equalised disposable income, which includes taxable and non-taxable income adjusted for household composition. This measure accounts for earnings such as salaries, social benefits, pensions, and other forms of income.
Poverty threshold
In terms of poverty levels, municipalities in the Flemish region reported the lowest percentage of people at risk of poverty, with Holsbeek and Zemst showing only 3.4% of their populations below the poverty threshold.
At the same time, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (34%) and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (31.5%) boasted significantly higher numbers below the poverty threshold. Anderlecht (28.2%), Schaerbeek (26.8%) and Koekelberg (26.7%), also in the Brussels-Capital Region, also featured high poverty rates.
Some 88 municipalities have a risk of poverty lower than 5%, Statbel noted.
Elsewhere, Belgium boasted the highest annual inflation rate in the euro area in October 2024, according to the latest estimates from Eurostat, with a rate of 4.7%. Read more here.
