Executive Summary

Belgium, located in the heart of Europe, is a small country with 11.1 million inhabitants. In 2013, its gross domestic product (GDP) was €395 billion at market prices (i.e. 14.5 % above the 2007 pre-crisis level of €345 billion; data from the Belgian National Bank). Belgium has shown itself to be one of the good performers in the euro area in recent years. According to Eurostat data, Belgium’s purchasing power per capita is about 10.2 % above the euro area average, and 19 % above the EU28 average. Belgium also boasts an extremely open economy, with the sum of imports and exports amounting to 170 % of GDP; the country’s trade balance is slightly positive. The unemployment rate was 8.5 % in September 2014, which is below the euro area average (11.5%). Belgium is thus economically rather healthy, although not among the best performing economies of the EU. It boasts a highly educated population, attracts substantial foreign direct investment, maintains high-quality hospitals, has a healthy housing market (i.e. it did not crash during the financial crisis, but recent estimates still suggest some overvaluation of the market) an