In Belgium, the population born abroad went up to 1,689 500 people in 2012, 15,2% of the total population. This is according to the latest report by the Organization for economic cooperation and development (Organisation pour la cooperation et le développement économique (OCDE), published on Monday. It looks at international migrations. According to the OCDE, the number of foreigners in Belgium has been going up since 2002. In 2012, 123,000 people immigrated to Belgium, 9,000 less than in 2011. In 2012, two thirds of immigrants came from within the EU, mainly France (13,300) and Romania (11,200). The fall in immigration between 2011 and 2012 is due to a decline in immigrants from countries outside the EU.
In 2012, most foreign residents in Belgium were from the EU (805,108 people, 67% of the total foreign population) among which Italians (157,400) were the most numerous. They were followed by the French (153,400) and the Dutch (144,000). The biggest increase was in the number of Romanians, which went up by 20% in 2012 and reached 50,900.
84,110 Belgians emigrated in 2012, an increase of 3,500 people compared to 2011.
(Source: Belga)
