For the first time, the proportion of non-Belgians in the Brussels-Capital Region stayed the same in 2024 compared to 2023 – at nearly 40% – according to the latest figures from the Brussels Institute of Statistics and Analysis (IBSA).
Non-Belgians make up over a third of Brussels' population, at 37.2% – a figure that remained identical between 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025, IBSA's latest demographic and socio-economic overview showed.
The region's overall population grew by 1,698 in 2024 to 1,255,795, so why hasn't the same growth been recorded among international residents? Diane Tennstedt, Population Data Manager at IBSA, says overall immigration levels are stabilising.
"In 2022 and 2023, we saw peaks in international immigration, with international emigration remaining stable overall, which led to an increase in the number of non-Belgian residents in Brussels. That has not been the case this year. So, it's just that it has been increasing for 19 years and is now stagnating a little," she tells The Brussels Times.
Despite the stable figure in 2024, the region’s international population has boomed over the last 20 years: in 2005, just over a quarter of residents weren't Belgian (26.3%).
But the key difference recorded over the last two decades, Tennstedt says, is the shift in nationalities.
Which nationalities are most common?
The most common foreign nationality found in Brussels is French, followed by Romanian in second place and Italian in third. Spanish, Moroccan, Portuguese, Polish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and German round off the top ten.
The top five nationalities have remained largely the same from the year prior, although in the previous report, Morocco was fourth and Spain fifth.
"Unlike Spaniards, Moroccans are more inclined to apply for Belgian nationality," Tennstedt says. This may explain why the number of Spaniards has surpassed the number of Moroccans in the Brussels region this year, as once someone acquires Belgian nationality, they no longer appear in this data.
"Obtaining Belgian nationality is more common among Moroccans, Turkish and Congolese nationals, whereas for European nationals, it is much less common," she adds.
Moroccan supporters celebrate the victory in the centre of Brussels, after winning the quarter final game between Morocco and Portugal, at the FIFA 2022 World Cup, on Saturday 10 December 2022. Credit: Belga / Hatim Kaghat
Unsurprisingly, turbulent geopolitics have also played a part in Brussels' evolving demographic landscape over the last 20 years.
The number of British nationals, for instance, has plummeted from just over 9,000 in 2005 to 3,938 on 1 January 2025, with Brexit forcing many to leave. Since 2011, Brits haven't made it into the top ten most represented foreign nationalities in Brussels.
The number of people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was similarly large in 2005 but has also since fallen out of the top ten. This is partly due to more Congolese nationals becoming Belgian, but also other nationalities climbing up the ranking.
Ukrainians, for example, have seen a remarkable increase since Russia's invasion in February 2022, rising to the eighth most common foreign nationality in 2024. For Palestinians arriving in Belgium from Gaza, it’s a little more complicated.
On 1 January 2025, there were indeed more than 1,000 Palestinians recorded in the Brussels region, which is more than the previous year. However, this figure is likely higher in reality as the data does not account for asylum seekers.
"When Ukrainian nationals arrive in Belgium, they are given direct temporary protection status, so they appear directly in our figures. Since the figures we publish are those from the national register. And the national register to which we have access is the register of foreigners and the register of the Belgian population."
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In terms of American nationals, it is still too soon to say whether President Donald Trump's second term has had an impact. “We haven't studied that at all. It's not something we've analysed at this point." In fact, the number of Americans has declined, dropping from 3,058 in 2024 to 2,815 in 2025.
"This kind of phenomenon is studied more in terms of migration flows than in terms of the number of people who live or reside in Brussels," Tennstedt concludes.
