Employment rate

In 2024, the employment rate (open definition) (open definition) for the population aged 20 to 64 in the Flemish Region was 76.9%. This means that 76.9% of 20- to 64-year-olds were employed in that year. The employment rate increased from 67.9% to 75.5% between 1999 and 2019. In 2020, there was a slight decrease to 74.7%, followed by an increase in 2021-2022 and a stabilisation in 2023-2024.

In 2024, the employment rate among men was 80.3%. This is significantly higher than among women (73.4%). The employment rate among women has increased more since 2014 (+5.8 percentage points (ppt.)) than among men (+4.1 ppt.). The difference in employment rate between men and women therefore fell from 8.7 ppt. in 2014 to 6.9 ppt. in 2024.

The employment rate of people aged 55 to 64 was much lower in 2024 than that of the other age groups. The employment rate of the group aged 55 to 64 did increase the most: from 44.3% in 2014 to 62.4% in 2024.

The employment rate increases as the level of education increases. The employment rate among low-skilled workers was 53.7% in 2024, compared to 78.4% among medium-skilled workers and 90.0% among highly-skilled workers. The employment rate increased at all levels of education compared to 2014.

Broken down by household position, the employment rate in 2024 was highest among cohabiting partners with children (88.3%) and lowest among people living with parents (55.9%). The employment rate increased the most among cohabiting partners without children between 2014 and 2024 (+10.1 ppt.).

People who experience hindrance in their daily activities due to a disability or long-term health problem are much less likely to be at work than people without hindrance. In 2024, the employment rate among people with hindrance was 49.8%, compared to 82.0% among people without hindrance. For both people with and without disabilities, the employment rate increased compared to 2014 (+7.1 ppt. and +5.2 ppt. respectively).

Finally, there are also differences by country of birth. In 2024, the employment rate for people born outside the European Union (EU27) was 64.5%, compared to 78.7% for people born in Belgium and 75.3% for people born in another EU27 country. For people born outside the EU27, the employment rate increased the most between 2014 and 2024 (+10.9 ppt.). For people born in Belgium and for people born in another EU27 country, this increase is slightly more limited (+5.1 ppt. and +5.4 ppt. respectively).

In 2024, the Flemish employment rate (76.9%) was significantly higher than in the other regions. In the Walloon Region, it was 67.1%, in the Brussels-Capital Region 64.1% and in Belgium as a whole 72.3%.

In the European Union (EU27), the employment rate in 2024 averaged 75.8%. The Flemish Region scored slightly higher than the EU average at 76.9%.

The Netherlands (83.5%) had the highest employment rate, followed by Malta (83.0%) and the Czech Republic (82.3%). The lowest employment rates were recorded in Romania (69.5%), Greece (69.3%) and Italy (67.1%).