Belgian population map: see here how many singles and single-parent families there are in your municipality

Every ten years, Statbel takes a snapshot of the Belgian population: how do Belgians live, what types of families are there, what are the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Belgians? These data provide a clear picture of our population. The intention is that further research can be done with this data.

On January 1, 2021, approximately half of the Belgian population lived in a household consisting of a couple with children. Just over one in five lived in a household with a couple without children. But the large group of singles and single-parent families is particularly striking.

In 2021, 1,778,065 Belgians were single, which is 15.6 percent of the total population. The municipality of Ixelles appears to house the highest percentage of singles, followed by Etterbeek, Sint-Gillis, Liège and Brussels.

That same year, there were also 1,289,087 people living in a household with single parents, 11.3 percent of the total population. In Flanders this involved 929,901 people, in Wallonia 588,068 and in Brussels 260,095. Striking: the top 5 municipalities with – in percentage terms – the most single parents are all Walloon municipalities. The top 5 municipalities with the lowest number are all Flemish.

Population increase

Statbel also looked at how the population in each municipality has evolved between the previous survey of 2011 and that of 2021. Over those ten years, the entire population has increased by 5.2 percent. Although the increase is a lot sharper in Brussels (9 percent) than in Flanders (5.5) and Wallonia (3.5). The municipalities with the largest increase are mainly in the province of Luxembourg. Those with the largest decrease are mainly located along the French border.

In 2021, more than a quarter (25.4 percent) of the working population worked outside their own province. It is striking that few Brussels residents, West Flemish residents, Antwerp residents and Liège residents commute to other provinces. The largest ‘attraction’ is mainly in Wallonia, especially the municipalities close to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Furthermore, two-thirds of the homes in our country are occupied by their owners. Although that number has decreased slightly: 64.5 percent in 2021 compared to 65.6 percent ten years earlier. Owners live in their homes most often, especially in Aalst, Kortrijk, Hasselt, Bruges and Mechelen.