Fewer Belgians are struggling to make ends meet, according to the Belgian statistical office Statbel.
For the past four years, Statbel has been surveying more than 5,000 Belgians aged 16 to 74 every quarter, paying particular attention to their living conditions.
37.8% of the population was expected to experience financial difficulties in 2025, compared to 43.6% in 2022, according to Statbel data.
While the 2025 figures confirm a downward trend since the launch of the survey on personal well-being and living conditions, the decrease compared to the previous year is slight, at 0.2 percentage points.
In 2024, 38% of respondents reported experiencing financial difficulties at the end of the month.
Furthermore, while the downward trend observed over the 2022-2025 period affects all regions, there are striking disparities, Statbel points out.
For example, 32.1% of respondents in Flanders indicated having difficulty making ends meet, compared to 44.6% in Wallonia and nearly 49% in Brussels.
On the other hand, the Belgian statistical office continues, a significant proportion of vulnerable people, such as the unemployed (66.7%) and those unable to work (70.1%), are experiencing financial difficulties. Among employed individuals, this figure reaches 28.8%.
Overall, nearly 37% of Belgians reported being "very" satisfied with their financial situation. For the majority (70%), income was roughly the same as in 2024, and nearly 20% had a higher income in 2025.
Other questions relating to living conditions also show that slightly more than half of respondents reported "having a high overall level of life satisfaction," and that nearly seven out of ten reported being always or most of the time happy.
