Regional Differences
The economy of Belgium is varied and cannot be understood without taking the regional differences into account. Indeed, Flemish and Walloon economies differ in many respects (consider for instance Eurostats and OECD statistics), and cities like Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Bruges, Charleroi or Ghent also exhibit significant differences. In general, productivity in Flanders is roughly 20% higher (per inhabitant) than in Wallonia. Brussels' GDP per capita is much higher than either region, although this is in many ways artificial, as many of those that work in the Brussels-Capital Region live in Flanders or Wallonia. Their output is counted in Brussels and not where they live, artificially raising the per capita GDP of Brussels and slightly lowering that of Flanders and Wallonia.
Unemployment has remained consistently more than twice as high in Wallonia than in Flanders, and even more in Brussels, during most of the last 20 years (2009, Flanders: 5.0% ; Wallonia: 11.2% and Brussels: 15.9%).
| Rank | NUTS region | 2006 GDP (PPP) per capita |
% of the average GDP of EU27 in 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brussels | 55,100 | 233.3 |
| 2 | Flemish Region | 27,900 | 118.0 |
| 3 | Walloon Region | 20,100 | 85.1 |
Read more about this topic: Economy Of Belgium
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