The population of Belgium stood at 11,763,650 inhabitants as of 1 January 2024, an increase of 0.57% year-on-year, new data from Statbel, the Belgian statistics body, has found.
This equates to an increase of 66,093 inhabitants, it added, noting that the increase is marginally higher than the average of the last ten years (0.53%).
The increase in population was as a result of a positive international migration balance, with the war in Ukraine having an impact, although at a much less pronounced level than in 2022.
The international migration balance, i.e. the difference between the number of immigrations and emigrations, was positive in 2023 (+66,349), Statbel said.
Some 13,702 immigrants, or 7.0% of the total, were of Ukrainian nationality. This compares to 2022, when 57,514 immigrants (24.6%) were Ukrainian.
Natural balance
Elsewhere, the natural balance, i.e. the difference between the number of births and deaths, was negative again in 2023, standing at -1,057.
According to Statbel, a negative natural balance has been in place for some years now, and is becoming a ‘new normal’.
The most pronounced negative natural balance in Belgium occurred in 2020, when it stood at -13,111, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to that year, the previous negative natural balance hadn’t been reported since the 1940s, it noted.
‘A declining trend’
‘However, the natural balance had been showing a declining trend for several years,’ Statbel said. ‘This downward trend can be mainly explained by a declining trend in the number of births, but also by an upward trend in the number of deaths due to population ageing.’
In total, 110,198 births and 111,255 deaths were registered in Belgium in 2023.
