**Eating in or dining out? Shoes or shirt? Concert or travel? How Belgians spend their income is changing. With Statbel’s latest budget survey, we can dive into the details to better understand this evolution. **
Average household consumption in Belgium topped €44,000 for the first time in Statbel’s 2024 household budget survey. This is a 10% increase from the previous survey, conducted in 2022. The greatest level of consumption was recorded in Flanders at €45,234, while the lowest level was recorded in Brussels at €41,533, on average. Wallonia, however, led the pack with respect to consumption growth, reaching 12% from the previous survey. On the flip side, Brussels saw the weakest growth at just 5%.
Unsurprisingly, housing and utilities makes up the largest portion of the typical budget, accounting for 31% of all consumer spending, or €13,536 per year. The high inflation environment over the last three years, specifically with respect to energy, has seen this sector take an increasing share of households’ budgets over time. Brussels residents are burdened the most by housing costs, spending 35% of their budget here. Food and non-alcoholic drinks is the next largest category for Belgians, accounting for 14% of budgets (€6,185), followed by transport at 12% (€5,180) and personal care and services at 10% (€4,476).
Housing is not the only sector in which people are investing more. The biggest changes noted versus the pre-Covid were in the culture and leisure and restaurant and horeca sectors. There was a clear jump in leisure and eating out after the economic reopening in 2022 that sustains today. People have shown a clear willingness to spend more on food and fun.
And while some sectors are increasingly favored, others have experienced declines. Despite increasing since the last survey, shoes and fashion, alcohol and communication have lost market share over the longer term. The only sector to see both short and long-term decreases is furniture and household appliances. That said, nominal spending has still increased.
Overall, consumer spending continues to increase in Belgium. Over the longer term, culture and leisure and restaurant and horeca have increased their share of households’ budgets, somewhat at the expense of growth in fashion and home furnishings, while housing and utilities continues to dominate at roughly a third of all spending.
