The unemployment rate in the Brussels-Capital Region stood at 15.4% at the end of last year – the highest level since August 2021, according to data from the Brussels employment agency Actiris.
The unemployment rate is the percentage of the working population that is seeking employment (so-called "inactive" people, such as students and pensioners, are not included in the calculation).
The Brussels municipality with the highest unemployment rate at the end of 2025 was Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (21.9%), while the lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (8.2%).
At the end of December, 96,650 job seekers were registered with Actiris, which was more than 4,000 more than a year earlier (a 4.4% increase). Among job seekers, there are slightly more men (49,392) than women (47,258). And 44,201 of the job seekers have been looking for work for at least two years.
All figures have risen on an annual basis, except for those of low-skilled job seekers, which saw a 2.8% decrease. The largest group of job seekers based on educational level is people with a foreign diploma that is not recognised in Belgium. There are more than 42,000 of them.
