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Employment rate

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Almost 77% of Flemish population aged 20 to 64 at work

In 2022, the of the population aged 20 to 64 in the Flemish Region amounted to 76.7%. This means that 76.7% of the people aged 20 to 64 had a paid job. The employment rate increased from 67.9% in 1999 to 75.5% in 2019. In 2020 there was a slight decrease compared to 2019, followed by an increase in 2021 and 2022.

From 2021, people who have been temporarily unemployed for more than 3 months for economic reasons (including the measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic) will no longer be considered as working. If they were nevertheless included among the employed, the employment rate would be 0.5 percentage points higher from 2021.

Employment rate of men showing a sharper increase than that of women in 2022

The employment rate among men was 80.2% in 2022. That is clearly higher than for women (73.2%). The employment rate among women has risen more sharply since 1999 than among men. The employment rate for men in 1999 was 77.4%, for women it was 58.1%. The difference in employment rate between men and women consequently decreased from above 19 percentage points in 1999 to 7 percentage points in 2022.

Lowest employment rate but strongest increase among over 55s

In the whole period from 1999 to 2022 the employment rate of persons aged of 55 to 64 was much lower than that of the other age groups. But employment increased strongest in this group: from 23.9% in 1999 to 59.5% in 2022.

The percentage of those in work in the 45 to 54 age group rose from 68.9% in 1999 to 85.9% in 2022 and among those aged 35 to 44 from 84.2% in 1999 to 88.2% in 2022. For young people aged 20 to 34, the employment rate dropped from 77.6% in 1999 to 75.0% in 2022. There was an increase in the employment rate between 2021 and 2022 for the four age categories, with the over-55s experiencing the strongest increase.

Lowest employment rate among the low educated

Over the whole period, there are considerable differences according to educational attainment level. The employment rate among the low-skilled aged 25 to 64 years was 52.0% in 2022, compared to 52.0% in 1999. The employment rate among the medium-skilled was 78.4% in 2022, a little higher than in 1999 (77.4% ). Among the highly skilled, the employment rate was 89.7% in 2022, about 2 percentage points higher than in 1999 (87.5%). The employment rate increased compared to 2021 for both the medium and high-skilled (respectively +1.2 pp and +0.9 pp).

Highest employment rate among couples with dependent children

In 2022 the employment rate among single persons without dependent children was 73.6%. In 2012, that percentage stood at 66.8%. The employment rate for single persons with children rose from 65.8% in 2012 to 72.9% in 2019, then fell to 63.1% in 2021, but raised again to 68.9% in 2022.

Couples without dependent children had an employment rate of 70.6% in 2022, compared to 61.5% in 2012. It is the only household type that experienced a decrease (-1.2 pp) between 2021 and 2022. For couples with dependent children, the employment rate rose from 79.8% in 2012 to 82.3% in 2022. The employment rate of this group was much higher in the 2012-2022 period than for the other household types.

Very low employment rate among persons with impediment due to disability or prolonged health problem

In 2022, the employment rate of people with impediment in their daily activities due to a disability or long-term health problem was 46.5%, compared to 37.5% in 2009. On an annual basis, this is a decrease of -2.7 percentage points. Among people without hindrance, the employment rate increased from 76.0% in 2009 to 82.1% in 2022 (+1.8 pp compared to 2021).

Lower employment rate among persons born outside the European Union

In 2022, the employment rate of persons who were born outside the European Union (EU27) was 62.7% compared to 53.1% in 1999. For persons born in Belgium, the employment rate rose from 73.4% in 2007 to 78.3% in 2022. The employment rate for persons born in another EU27 country was 77.7% in 2022, compared to 64.6% in 2007. This is a stabilization on an annual basis (-0.1 pp), while the other two groups have seen an increase in their employment rate.

Flemish employment rate slightly above EU average

In 2021, the Flemish employment rate (75.3%) was distinctly higher than in the other Belgian regions. In the Walloon Region it stood at 65.2%, in the Brussels Capital Region at 62.2% and in Belgium as a whole at 70,6%.

The employment rate in the European Union (EU27) was on average 73.1% in 2021. The Flemish Region thus performed slightly better than the EU27 average.
The Netherlands had the highest employment rate (81.7%) in 2021, followed by Sweden (80.7%) and the Czech Republic (80.0%). Greece had the lowest employment rate (62.6%), preceded by Italy (62.7%) and Romania (67.1%).

  1. Centre of Expertise for Labour Market Monitoring (CELM):
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