Belgium

Economy & income

Currency

• Euro (EUR, €)
• ~€0.88 per USD (€1 ≈ $1.14, 14 Jul 2026, ECB/market)

GDP per capita

• ~$60,418 nominal (2025, IMF WEO Oct 2025)
• ~$75,882 PPP (2025)

Average salary

• ~$3,020 net/mo (Numbeo, Jul 2026; ~€2,650)
• gross ~$4,650/mo (~€4,076, Statbel full-time avg 2024)

Median salary

~$4,250/mo gross (~€3,728 median, Statbel 2024)

Minimum wage

• ~€2,154.11/mo gross statutory (GMMI/RMMMG, from 1 Jan 2026; rises to €2,189.81 from 1 Apr 2026) + ~$2,460–$2,500
• only ~3% of workers on it (sectoral CBAs set higher floors)

Cost of living

• High — single person ~€965/mo excl. rent, family of 4 ~€3,450/mo excl. rent
• ~2% below US average
• Brussels 1-bed city-centre ~€1,110–1,200/mo (Numbeo, Jul 2026)

Digital landscape

Population

~11.8 million (DataReportal Digital 2026, late 2025)

Internet users

96.3% (~11.3 million users)

Social media users

77.2% (~9.08 million active social identities, Oct 2025)

Mobile connections

12.0 million cellular connections = 102% of population

Devices

mobile ~44.2% / desktop ~53.6% / tablet ~2.3% of web traffic (StatCounter, Jun 2026 — desktop-leaning, unusual for tier-1)

Ad spend

• Total media ad spend ~€3.18B (2024, ~$3.6B)
• digital ~41.9% of net media investment (2024, first time above 40%, trending up)

Top social platforms

YouTube ~9.08M, 77.2% reach

Facebook ~6.20M, 52.7%

LinkedIn ~6.20M, 52.7%

Instagram ~5.10M, 43.4%

Messenger ~4.55M, 38.7%

Snapchat ~4.29M, 36.4%

TikTok ~4.03M adults 18+, fastest-growing +7.7% YoY

Messengers

• WhatsApp (dominant everyday messenger)
• Facebook Messenger (~4.55M reach)
• Snapchat (~4.29M, youth-skewed)
• Telegram (smaller, growing)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Bancontact (dominant local scheme; ~73% preferred online method; >94% debit-card share)
• Credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro)
• Payconiq by Bancontact (mobile/QR & P2P)
• PayPal
• Bank transfer / SEPA
• Wero (EPI, rolling out to replace Payconiq)

E-wallets

• Bancontact app / Payconiq by Bancontact
• PayPal
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Wero (European Payments Initiative)

Cash on delivery

• Rare — cash-on-delivery is uncommon
• digital/card payment is the norm

E-commerce

• High — €17.4B spent online in 2024 (BeCommerce, +6.7%), ~96% of 15+ shopped online in 2024
• ~86% user penetration
• >58% of purchases via smartphone
• >55% buy cross-border

Notes

• Offering Bancontact is effectively mandatory for Belgian checkout conversion — nearly all consumers hold it and expect it
• QR/mobile payments rising fast
• Wero gradually replacing Payconiq.

Audience & culture

Languages

• Dutch/Flemish (~60%, Flanders)
• French (~40%, Wallonia + Brussels)
• German (small, ~1%, official, eastern cantons)
• English (widely used in business & Brussels)

Religion

• Non-religious/none ~59%
• Catholic ~31%
• Muslim ~6%
• other Christian (Protestant/Orthodox) ~3% (survey estimates — no official religious census; Brussels & Antwerp have larger Muslim shares)

Median age

41.9 years (DataReportal Digital 2026)

Key seasons

• Winter sales / Solden–Soldes (Jan; strict fixed-date rules loosened after May 2026 Council of State ruling)
• Summer sales (Jul)
• Black Friday / Cyber Monday (late Nov)
• Christmas & New Year (Dec)
• Back-to-school (late Aug–Sep)
• Summer festivals incl. Tomorrowland (Jul)

Cultural notes

• Belgium is not one audience: localize creative per community — Dutch for Flanders (~60%), French for Wallonia (~40%), bilingual for Brussels, German for the east
• Flemish and Walloon consumers differ in media, humor and brand preference
• national campaigns almost always run two language versions
• Consumers are price-conscious, privacy-aware and trust established/local brands
• the Flemish creator ecosystem is more developed, while Walloon audiences often follow France-based (FR) creators.

Where to find creators

• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Discovery/analytics: Favikon, HypeAuditor, StarNgage, Modash

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Céline Dept ~63.3M YouTube (~19.8M TikTok)

YouTube/TikTokFlemish football-freestyle & challenge creator; in Jul 2026 overtook MrBeast as the world's most-watched YouTuber — massive sports/brand reach

C

Charlène Vanwerveke ~4.2M TikTok

TikTokFlemish lifestyle/comedy TikToker; #2 Belgian TikTok account

Nathan Vandergunst (Acid) ~0.72M YouTube (~0.45M Instagram)

YouTube/InstagramFlemish entertainment, vlogs, challenges & commentary

A

Average Rob ~0.9M Instagram (~0.72M YouTube)

YouTube/InstagramFlemish comedy/adventure & challenge creator (Ironman, stunts)

Loïc Nottet ~0.55M Instagram

Instagram/YouTubeWalloon singer-dancer & creator (The Voice, Eurovision 2015); Wallonia reach

Roméo Elvis ~0.84M Instagram

InstagramWalloon/Brussels rapper & creative content maker; youth/urban FR audience

Celebrities

Kevin De Bruyne ~26M Instagram

Footballer (Belgium captain, midfielder) — Flemish

Eden Hazard ~27.3M Instagram

Retired footballer (ex-Real Madrid, Chelsea) — Walloon

Thibaut Courtois ~17.3M Instagram

Footballer, Real Madrid goalkeeper — Flemish

Romelu Lukaku ~8M Instagram

Footballer, striker — Brussels/Flemish

Stromae ~2M Instagram

Musician (Paul Van Haver) — Brussels/French-speaking

Angèle ~4M Instagram

Pop singer-songwriter — Brussels/French-speaking

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• E-commerce/retail & marketplaces (bol.com, Coolblue)
• Travel & mobility
• Telecom & energy switching (comparison sites)
• Finance/insurance comparison (regulated)
• Home/DIY, fashion, subscriptions
• iGaming — largely off-limits (ad ban)

Active networks

• Awin (largest global network, active in BE)
• TradeTracker (NL-origin, strong Benelux presence)
• Daisycon (Linehub; lead-gen focus)
• TradeDoubler
• In-house programs: bol.com Partnerprogramma, Coolblue, Zalando
• Global CPA nets + Impact/CJ for enterprise

Payouts

• Finance/insurance & telecom leads command premiums (often ~€10–€60+ CPL/CPA)
• e-commerce CPS typically ~3–10% commission
• gambling effectively unavailable due to the ad ban.

Competition

• Mature, high-CPM tier-1 market with strong local incumbents (bol.com, Coolblue, telecoms, banks)
• bilingual NL/FR execution adds cost and complexity vs single-language GEOs.

Seasonality

• Peaks around Jan & Jul sales, Black Friday and Q4 holidays
• summer travel
• back-to-school in September.

Traffic sources

• SEO/content & price-comparison sites
• Meta (FB/IG) & TikTok paid social
• Google Ads/Shopping
• YouTube & influencer/creator
• Email/CRM
• Native/display

Good to know

Capital

Brussels

Major cities

• Brussels
• Antwerp
• Ghent
• Charleroi
• Liège
• Bruges
• Namur
• Leuven

Time zones

Single zone — CET (UTC+1), CEST (UTC+2) in summer

Android vs iOS

54% 46%

Android 54% iOS 46%

Phone brands

• Apple iPhone (~46% via iOS share, StatCounter Jun 2026)
• Samsung (leading Android brand)
• Xiaomi (growing)
• Google Pixel / others

Top e-commerce

• bol.com (dominant marketplace, ~12.5M monthly visits)
• Coolblue
• Amazon (amazon.com.be / .fr)
• Zalando (fashion)
• 2dehands / 2ememain (C2C, Adevinta)
• AliExpress & Temu (cross-border)
• Collect&Go / Colruyt (groceries), Decathlon, MediaMarkt

Peak activity

Weekday evenings ~19:00–22:00 CET drive highest engagement; weekday lunch ~12:00–13:00; Sunday evenings strong for social/video. Run NL creative to Flanders and FR creative to Wallonia in each community's prime evening slot.

Creative taboos

• Language-community sensitivity is the #1 taboo — never mix up or imply the dominance of one language
• Brussels is officially bilingual
• Flemish vs Walloon regional identity is politically charged
• the monarchy is respected
• be mindful of a large secular majority alongside a notable Muslim minority
• gambling advertising is socially and legally frowned upon.

Also worth knowing

1. Always ship two creative sets — Dutch for Flanders and French for Wallonia (bilingual for Brussels); single-language campaigns underperform and can offend.
2. Bancontact support is make-or-break for checkout conversion.
3. Belgium is a compliance-first tier-1 GEO: high purchasing power but a near-total gambling ad ban plus strict crypto, finance and pharma rules leave little room for aggressive/greyhat creative.