Flanders’ rating is the highest of all Belgian regions and communities and is even one notch above the Belgian federal rating. Flanders thus remains one of the few European regions to which Fitch assigned a rating higher than that of the sovereign.
Fitch downgrades Flanders Rating
On Friday, 20 June 2025, Fitch downgraded the Flemish Community’s long-term rating to ‘AA-’ with a stable outlook. The short-term rating remained at F1+.
The downgrade follows the downgrade of the Belgian sovereign to ‘A+’ from ‘AA-’ on Friday 13 June 2025.
The Flemish Community’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) is ‘aa’, two notches above the rating of Belgium, and the entity meets the conditions for it to be rated above the sovereign, including large financial and fiscal autonomy. However, Fitch believes a sharp deterioration in sovereign finances would likely affect the Flemish Community, and that a default of the sovereign would have a significant effect on the Flemish Community, including a sharp increase in its cost of borrowing. However, it would not necessarily lead to an immediate default of the Flemish Community itself. Fitch considers that the Flemish Community has a large incentive to support the federal government due to the importance of the services provided by the latter to the population, including unemployment benefits. This explains why the Flemish Community is not rated more than one notch above the sovereign.
Fitch’s reports in the press release of 6 June 2025 that Flanders has a solid economy with indicators above the Belgian and European average. Five out of the six Key Risk Factors (KRFs) were assessed as ‘stronger’:
- revenue robustness
- revenue adjustability
- expenditure sustainability
- liabilities & liquidity robustness
- liabilities & liquidity flexibility
The current contract with Fitch runs from 1 March 2024 to 29 February 2028.
Full Report & Press Release
Want to know more? You can find all the details in the press releases from 6 and 20 June 2025.