Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium
Belgium: Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day was 17.2% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium, 1985–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium stood at 17.2%.
The figure is up 3.2% on the previous year and down 26.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium peaked at 59.3% in 1985 and was at its lowest, 15.5%, in 2021.
That places Belgium 113th out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 59.3% | — |
| 1988 | 56.1% | -5.4% |
| 1992 | 47.4% | -15.5% |
| 1995 | 34.9% | -26.4% |
| 1997 | 34.3% | -1.7% |
| 2000 | 28.1% | -18.1% |
| 2003 | 30.4% | +8.3% |
| 2004 | 27.6% | -9.4% |
| 2005 | 26.8% | -2.6% |
| 2006 | 26.5% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 26.2% | -1.0% |
| 2008 | 23.7% | -9.5% |
| 2009 | 23.3% | -1.8% |
| 2010 | 23.7% | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 25.5% | +7.6% |
| 2012 | 23.2% | -8.9% |
| 2013 | 23.3% | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 23.6% | +1.3% |
| 2015 | 22.8% | -3.7% |
| 2016 | 23.1% | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 21.4% | -7.3% |
| 2018 | 19.8% | -7.5% |
| 2019 | 18.2% | -8.2% |
| 2020 | 16.2% | -11.0% |
| 2021 | 15.5% | -4.1% |
| 2022 | 16.7% | +7.3% |
| 2023 | 17.2% | +3.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 57.7% | 56.1% | 59.3% | 2 |
| 1990s | 38.9% | 34.3% | 47.4% | 3 |
| 2000s | 26.6% | 23.3% | 30.4% | 8 |
| 2010s | 22.5% | 18.2% | 25.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.4% | 15.5% | 17.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More poverty & inequality data for Belgium
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.38 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 8,486 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -1.37 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 42.58 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 42.6% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium?
- Poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Belgium was 17.2% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 59.3% in 1985.
- What is the lowest poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.5% in 2021.
- How does Belgium rank for poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day?
- Belgium ranks 113th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 26.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Belgium data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below $40 per day.