| Economy - overview | This modern, private-enterprise economy has capitalized on its central geographic location, highly developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. Industry is concentrated mainly in the populous Flemish area in the north. With few natural resources, Belgium must import substantial quantities of raw materials and export a large volume of manufactures, making its economy unusually dependent on the state of world markets. Roughly three-quarters of its trade is with other EU countries. Public debt is more than 90% of GDP. On the positive side, the government has succeeded in balancing its budget, and income distribution is relatively equal. Belgium began circulating the euro currency in January 2002. Economic growth in 2001-03 dropped sharply because of the global economic slowdown, with moderate recovery in 2004-06. |
|
| GDP | 1.3% (2005 est.) |
|
| GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2006 est.) |
|
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 24%
services: 74.9% (2005 est.) |
|
| Population below poverty line | 4% (1989 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 23% (1996) |
|
Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 25 (1996) |
|
| Labor force | 4.89 million (2006 est.) |
|
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 1.3%
industry: 24.5%
services: 74.2% (2003 est.) |
|
| Unemployment rate | 8.1% (2006 est.) |
|
| Budget | revenues: $195.7 billion
expenditures: $195.5 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.56 billion (2006 est.) |
|
| Industries | engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum |
|
| Industrial production growth rate | 3% (2006 est.) |
|
Electricity -
production | 80.22 billion kWh (2004) |
|
Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 38.4%
hydro: 0.6%
nuclear: 59.3%
other: 1.8% (2001) |
|
Electricity -
consumption | 82.41 billion kWh (2004) |
|
Electricity -
exports | 6.8 billion kWh (2004) |
|
Electricity -
imports | 14.6 billion kWh (2004) |
|
| Oil - production | 10,690 bbl/day (2004) |
|
| Oil - consumption | 641,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
|
| Oil - exports | 450,000 bbl/day (2001) |
|
| Oil - imports | 1.042 million bbl/day (2001) |
|
| Agriculture - products | sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, tobacco; beef, veal, pork, milk |
|
| Exports | $335.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
|
| Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs |
|
| Exports - partners | Germany 19.4%, France 17.3%, Netherlands 11.7%, UK 8.2%, US 6.4%, Italy 5.3% (2005) |
|
| Imports | $333.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
|
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, oil products |
|
| Imports - partners | Netherlands 17.8%, Germany 17.2%, France 11.4%, UK 6.8%, Ireland 6.5%, US 5.4% (2005) |
|
| Debt - external | $1.053 trillion (30 June 2006 est.) |
|
| Currency code | EUR |
|
| Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002) |
|
| Fiscal year | calendar year |
|
