Belgium

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Country summary

Capital

Brussels

Borders

France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km

Government type

federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy

Population

10,414,336 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

0.094% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

79.22 years[1]

Unemployment

7.9% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

30[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

21[3]

Doing Business ranking

22[4]


Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. The country prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
  • Central bank discount rate: 3% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 7.03% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • is part of the Eurozone

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1838-1839, 1842, February 1848, 1870-1871, 1914, 1925-1926, May 1931, 1934, 1939[5], 2008
  • Years in inflation: 5.2 % (share of years 1800-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 253 833 231 934 231 663 251 884 310 074 359 609 375 714 399 226 458 389 504 206
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 111.980 106.962 105.632 102.192 96.157 91.080 89.631 85.603 82.630 88.032
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 42.957 42.946 43.085 42.085 43.146 41.460 41.577 40.776 40.226 41.217
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 44.108 43.083 43.755 42.135 43.428 41.809 44.515 41.130 41.003 42.530
Debt to revenue (years) 2.607 2.491 2.452 2.428 2.229 2.197 2.156 2.099 2.054 2.136

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 CIA - The World Factbook. "Belgium", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Belgium", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Belgium", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Belgium", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 351-352. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 23. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Belgium: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Belgium: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Belgium: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "Belgium: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.

Links

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