Informal employment rate in Belgium
Belgium: Informal employment rate was 2.45 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Informal employment rate in Belgium, 2014–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
Belgium recorded 2.45 for informal employment rate in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of down 26.1% on the previous year and down 8.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment rate in Belgium peaked at 4.76 in 2014 and was at its lowest, 2.45, in 2025.
That places Belgium 42nd out of 47 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Informal employment rate in Belgium, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 4.76 | — |
| 2015 | 2.68 | -43.7% |
| 2016 | 2.48 | -7.5% |
| 2017 | 3.57 | +44.2% |
| 2018 | 3.72 | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 3.05 | -18.0% |
| 2020 | 2.46 | -19.2% |
| 2021 | 3 | +21.8% |
| 2022 | 2.68 | -10.7% |
| 2023 | 3.28 | +22.4% |
| 2024 | 3.31 | +1.1% |
| 2025 | 2.45 | -26.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3.38 | 2.48 | 4.76 | 6 |
| 2020s | 2.86 | 2.45 | 3.31 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More work & labour data for Belgium
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.1652 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.1676 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.1614 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.59 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.1395 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 12,349 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 139 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 5,498 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 5,563 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 11,061 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment rate in Belgium?
- Informal employment rate in Belgium was 2.45 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest informal employment rate recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 4.76 in 2014.
- What is the lowest informal employment rate recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.45 in 2025.
- How does Belgium rank for informal employment rate?
- Belgium ranks 42nd out of 47 countries with data for 2025.
- Is informal employment rate rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Belgium data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Informal employment rate (current ILO definition - ICLS19). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. This harmonized series for informal employment is derived using the same set of criteria across countries to improve comparability. The criteria used are based on employment status, institutional sector, destination of production, bookkeeping, registration, social security contribution, places of work and size. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.