Belgium has the lowest employment rate in the EU for people born outside the bloc, according to a new analysis by the Rockwool Foundation Berlin.
The non-profit research institute, funded by the Danish Rockwool Foundation, found that 58.5% of non-EU immigrants in Belgium were in employment in 2025, placing the country just behind Finland (58.6%) but well below the EU average of 66%. Malta recorded the highest employment rate at 83.7%.
The research examined the 20 EU countries where foreign-born residents account for at least 10% of the population.
Across those countries, employment among non-EU immigrants has steadily improved, rising from 59.4% in 2017 to 66% in 2025, the highest level recorded over that period.
In Belgium, the employment rate for native-born workers stands at 68.6%, while 70.3% of EU-born immigrants are in work. The latter is slightly below the EU average of 74.8%, which the researchers suggest may be linked to the large number of European institutions based in Brussels.
Belgium also ranks among the countries with the largest disadvantage for highly skilled migrants.
The study also highlights a significant gender gap. Employment among women born outside the EU is 18.7 percentage points lower than among men in Belgium. Just 49.5% of non-EU-born women are employed, the second-lowest rate in the EU, behind only Italy (48.5%).
