Country profile · Western Europe
Belgium
Belgium is a country of about 11.9 million people, split between Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and bilingual Brussels. Brussels hosts the headquarters of NATO and of the EU's main institutions. Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a Flemish nationalist, leads a five-party coalition. Belgium blocked an EU plan to lend Ukraine the frozen Russian money held in Brussels.
Where Belgium ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Belgium in?
All alliances →Who runs Belgium?
Belgium is a federal kingdom. King Philippe has reigned since July 2013. Prime Minister Bart De Wever was born in 1970. He studied history at KU Leuven and led the Flemish nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) from 2004 to 2025. He was mayor of Antwerp from 2013 to 2025. De Wever is known for quoting Latin and for losing about 60 kilograms on a diet he described in a book. After the June 2024 election, forming a government took 239 days. On February 3, 2025 De Wever became the first Flemish nationalist to lead Belgium. His five-party coalition, called Arizona, holds 82 of the 150 seats (chart). It limited unemployment benefits to two years and passed a pension reform. Unions answered with repeated national strikes. In October 2026 the coalition could not agree on a budget for 2027. De Wever cancelled his State of the Union speech, and as of October 19 there was no deal. A September 2026 poll put the far-right Vlaams Belang first in Flanders.
- N-VA 24
- Vlaams Belang 20
- MR 20
- PS 16
- PVDA-PTB 15
- Les Engagés 14
- Vooruit 13
- CD&V 11
- Others 17
Photo (March 2025): Dati Bendo, European Commission, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Who are Belgium's allies and rivals?
Brussels hosts the headquarters of NATO and of the EU's Commission and Council. NATO's military headquarters, SHAPE, is near Mons. Belgium spent 2% of GDP on defense in 2025, up from 1.27% in 2024, among the last NATO allies to reach that level. Its first F-35 fighters arrived in October 2025. Prime Minister Bart De Wever pledged to deliver 10 F-16s to Ukraine by the end of 2026. In late 2025 drones flew over Kleine-Brogel air base and closed Brussels Airport. Belgian security services suspected Russia, but this was never proven. King Leopold II ruled the Congo as his own colony from 1885. Belgium governed it until 1960. Rwanda cut ties with Belgium in March 2025 over the war in eastern Congo and restored them on September 22, 2026. On October 15, 2026 Congo's presidency told its staff to stop contact with the Belgian embassy after Belgian police searched homes of President Tshisekedi's relatives.
Allies and partners
NetherlandsBiggest supplier; joint air defense purchase in 2026
GermanyBiggest export market
FranceNeighbor and third-biggest trade partner
UkraineBelgium pledged 30 F-16 fighters
- Brussels NATO headquarters and the EU's Commission and Council. Euroclear holds about €185 billion of Russian central bank money here.
- Antwerp Europe's second-largest port. Customs seized about 55 tonnes of cocaine here in 2025.
- Kleine-Brogel Air base named in a leaked 2019 report as a store of US nuclear bombs. Drones flew over it in 2025.
- Zeebrugge Gas terminal. It took more Russian Arctic LNG than any other EU terminal in the first half of 2026.
- Belgium
- Partner
Who does Belgium trade with?
Belgium exported $383 billion of goods in 2025 and imported $386 billion (UN Comtrade). Germany, France and the Netherlands bought about 42% of exports (chart). Chemicals make up about a quarter of exports. The port of Antwerp-Bruges handled 266.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2025, second in Europe after Rotterdam. Antwerp's diamond trade fell to $19.1 billion in 2025 from about $41 billion in 2022, after the EU banned Russian diamonds in 2024. Audi closed its Brussels car plant in February 2025, and about 3,000 jobs were lost. The economy grew 1.0% in 2025. Inflation reached 4.7% in September 2026, after the war with Iran raised fuel prices. Belgium's budget deficit was 5.2% of GDP in 2025, the largest in the euro area, and its public debt was 107.9% of GDP. Moody's cut Belgium's credit rating in April 2026. In 2025 parliament scrapped the law phasing out nuclear power, which supplied 34% of electricity.
Sells to
Share of Belgium's exports
- Germany16.7%
- France12.6%
- Netherlands12.5%
United States7.7%
United Kingdom5.8%
Buys from
Share of Belgium's imports
- Netherlands22.9%
- Germany13.4%
- France11.4%
- United States6.8%
Italy4.5%
Goods, 2025, as reported by Belgium. UN Comtrade.
Why is Belgium divided by language?
Belgium broke away from the Netherlands in 1830. The revolt began after a performance of the opera La Muette de Portici in Brussels on August 25, 1830. The Treaty of London of 1839 guaranteed Belgium's neutrality. Germany dismissed it as "a scrap of paper" when it invaded in August 1914. About 6.9 million people live in Flanders, in the north, where people speak Dutch. About 3.7 million live in Wallonia, in the south, where people speak French. Brussels, with about 1.26 million people, is officially bilingual. About 78,000 people in the east speak German. Six state reforms turned Belgium into a federal state in 1993, with three regions and three language communities. In late 2025 unemployment was 4.5% in Flanders, 7.9% in Wallonia and 13.1% in Brussels. Belgium went 541 days without a government in 2010 and 2011, a world record. After the 2024 election, the Brussels region went about 613 days without a new government. Prime Minister Bart De Wever's party wants more powers for the regions.
Why is Russia's frozen money in Belgium?
Euroclear, a Brussels company, holds securities and cash for banks and investors around the world, more than €45 trillion in all. When the EU froze the Russian central bank's reserves, about €185 billion of the roughly €210 billion frozen in the EU was held at Euroclear. The EU takes the interest earned on this money for Ukraine, about €8 billion so far. In late 2025 the European Commission proposed lending the money to Ukraine. Prime Minister Bart De Wever refused unless other EU countries shared the legal risk. On December 18, 2025 EU leaders instead agreed to borrow €90 billion together for Ukraine, and they froze the Russian money indefinitely. On May 15, 2026 a Moscow court ordered Euroclear to pay Russia's central bank about €200 billion. Euroclear says the court has no authority over it. Euroclear's role also explains why US data list Belgium as the fourth-largest foreign holder of US Treasury bonds (chart). The data record where bonds are held, not who owns them.
Largest foreign holders of US Treasury securities, July 2026
Full ranking →
Japan$1.10tn- United Kingdom$998bn
China$618bn- Belgium$471bn
Luxembourg$442bn
Canada$426bn
Ireland$350bn- France$348bn
US Treasury, Treasury International Capital (TIC) System