Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Belgium
Belgium: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 8.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median 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, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Belgium stood at 8.3%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 9.5% on the previous year and down 17.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Belgium peaked at 10.5% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 5.8%, in 1985.
That places Belgium 92nd out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Belgium, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 5.8% | — |
| 1988 | 6.7% | +15.5% |
| 1992 | 7.0% | +4.5% |
| 1995 | 8.3% | +18.6% |
| 1997 | 7.8% | -6.0% |
| 2000 | 7.0% | -10.3% |
| 2003 | 9.3% | +33.0% |
| 2004 | 9.1% | -2.6% |
| 2005 | 8.5% | -5.8% |
| 2006 | 9.1% | +6.6% |
| 2007 | 9.1% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 8.8% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 9.4% | +6.9% |
| 2010 | 9.6% | +2.1% |
| 2011 | 10.2% | +5.4% |
| 2012 | 9.1% | -10.0% |
| 2013 | 10.1% | +10.0% |
| 2014 | 9.7% | -3.2% |
| 2015 | 10.5% | +8.0% |
| 2016 | 10.3% | -2.2% |
| 2017 | 9.9% | -3.3% |
| 2018 | 9.6% | -3.0% |
| 2019 | 8.6% | -11.3% |
| 2020 | 7.9% | -7.7% |
| 2021 | 8.1% | +3.0% |
| 2022 | 7.6% | -6.5% |
| 2023 | 8.3% | +9.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 6.2% | 5.8% | 6.7% | 2 |
| 1990s | 7.7% | 7.0% | 8.3% | 3 |
| 2000s | 8.8% | 7.0% | 9.4% | 8 |
| 2010s | 9.8% | 8.6% | 10.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.0% | 7.6% | 8.3% | 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 relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Belgium?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Belgium was 8.3% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 10.5% in 2015.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.8% in 1985.
- How does Belgium rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Belgium ranks 92nd out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. 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 50% of the median.