Belgium’s growing electorate has earned political parties more than €84 million in extra public funding since 2003, according to investigative news site Apache.
The increase stems from the way party financing is structured in Belgium.
Most public subsidies are calculated according to the number of votes won, meaning more eligible voters generally leads to more votes and, in turn, more money for party coffers.
Apache said this mechanism accounts for nearly two-thirds of the funds parties have accumulated over that period. Since 2003, the additional subsidies linked to the rise in voter numbers have totalled almost €84.3 million.
The outlet had previously reported that Belgian political parties added a further €11.9 million to their reserves in 2025. Its analysis also found that party subsidies rose by almost €2.8 million that year.
That increase is notable because the federal government had said earlier that skipping an index-linked adjustment would save “at least €5 million” on party subsidies.
According to Apache, the amount of money flowing to parties over the years through this system is “impressive.”
