Belgium: Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Belgium's households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) rose 0.22 percentage points on 2024 (from 52.09% to 52.32%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.68 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.65 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.65 percentage points in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 3% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Belgium had the 102nd highest value of the 130 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Belgium in the 2025 ranking

• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 98th of 130: 52.74%
• Estonia — 99th of 130: 52.66%
• Hungary — 100th of 130: 52.55%
• Australia — 102nd of 130: 51.85%
• Austria — 103rd of 130: 51.85%
• Mongolia — 104th of 130: 51.48%

What this measures

This field includes expenditure on goods and services by the Household and NPISH sector for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: Because policymakers have tended to focus on fostering the growth of output, and because data on production are easier to collect than data on spending, many countries generate their primary estimate of GDP using the production approach. Moreover, many countries do not estimate all the components of national expenditures but instead derive some of the main aggregates indirectly using GDP (based on the production approach) as the control total. Household final consumption expenditure is often estimated as a residual, by subtracting all other known expenditures from GDP. The resulting aggregate may incorporate fairly large discrepancies.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 56 values

Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Albania — 69.19% (2025)
• Armenia — 71.1% (2025)
• Austria — 51.85% (2025)
• Azerbaijan — 59.37% (2025)
• Belarus — 55.58% (2025)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 69.35% (2025)
• Bulgaria — 58.5% (2025)
• Croatia — 56.18% (2025)
• Cyprus

More economic policy & debt data for Belgium

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$56.39 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$24.46 billion (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$725.47 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 642.02 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$539.12 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 531.48 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$60,750 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 53,762 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$45,146 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 44,506 (2025)
• GNI (current US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Belgium's households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP)?

52.32% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 1.18 percentage points from 51.14% in 1970. The highest value was 57.6% in 1983 and the lowest 49.65% in 2007.

How does Belgium rank?

102nd highest of 130 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) unusual for Belgium?

In 2025, Belgium's households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) rose 0.22 percentage points on 2024 (from 52.09% to 52.32%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.68 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.CON.PRVT.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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