How Popular is Belgium with Expats?

Expat network InterNations has been producing their annual “Expat Insider” report since 2014. Since then, it’s become an indispensable guide to the trends, thoughts and motivations of people on the move. Ultimately, the report aims to provide insight into the attractiveness and reality of living in different countries. It covers every aspect of the experience of setting up home, working, language, quality of life… all of this is included to provide a detailed and balanced comparison between countries.

We last explored the annual rankings back in 2017 (yikes – has it really been that long?) and although Belgium has dropped several places in the overall rankings over the last eight years, there are still myriad reasons to live and work here. Our top score? 5^th place globally for work culture and satisfaction… read on for the facts behind the figures!

'Crucially, the survey covered areas which are central to the global relocations experience. Including how easy life administration is, if it is easy to connect and build friendship groups, even what the experience of moving to the country is like.'

How relevant is Expat Insider?

Central to the value of any survey is the quantity of data and methodology used to collect it. With Expat Insider’s 12 edition, InterNations has done some impressive work. The survey features data from over 10,000 expats from 172 countries. Respondents were asked to rank countries by a set of 53 different criteria, with only countries which had over 50 respondents being ranked.

This has resulted in a list of 46 countries placed using a reasonable sample of data, sufficient that comparison has value. After all, comparing a country with 3 results and a country with 500 doesn’t really fairly reflect either.

If there is a cautionary point, that is that this type of survey has many questions which are highly subjective. Asking how safe someone feels isn’t an exact metric, nor is how happy they are. However, with so much of expat life being what our assignees lived experience, these subjective points may be the only ones which matter.

What was measured?

As mentioned, over 53 different areas were looked at. With respondents being asked to rank on things like career prospects, salary, housing, culture, safety, and healthcare. This is a really good look at how it is to move to a new country.

Crucially, the survey covered areas which are central to the global relocations experience. Including how easy life administration is, if it is easy to connect and build friendship groups, even what the experience of moving to the country is like. This data will give us some guide to how likely a relocation will be and how much support, and where, assignees may need when moving to a specific country.

How does Belgium fare?

In a list of 46 countries, Belgium came 24^th, so roughly middle of the list. Interestingly ahead of Germany (46^th), France (40^th) and Ireland (37^th). However, still behind the rest of the Benelux bloc of Luxemburg (18^th) and the Netherlands (22^nd).

So where did it go right, and where did it go wrong?

Belgium performed most strongly on work culture and satisfaction (5^th), career prospects (7^th) and healthcare (10^th). With the range of international organisations and businesses in Belgium, it’s perhaps not a surprise that the work environment is so attractive for working coming in from abroad. With a full 26% of expats moving to the country having either applied for or already found a job as their top reason for moving here.

Digging a little deeper into work, 16% of expats end up working in the public sector, NGOs, or government, again, not really a surprise. Other significant sectors to benefit from expats in Belgium include IT (10%), and manufacturing and engineering (8%).

On the other side, Belgium performed poorly in some key areas. For environment and climate, we came 39^th, though more alarmingly is the 32^nd place for safety and security.

Finding friends, culture and welcome were also not as positive as we might hope, with 32^nd and 30^th respectively. It’s probably no surprise therefore that Belgium only came 36^th for general happiness.

What can we learn?

There is a lot of positive news in the Expat Insider report, with all but one of the biggest winners in the 2025 overall expat ranking found in Europe. Only China beats the trend. More importantly, Belgium continues to outperform some of our larger neighbours and remains a draw for top talent in many sectors.

However, there are some areas of concern. Many existing residents hold similar concerns regarding the environment and safety within Belgium, especially within the larger cities. If the country is going to continue to be a draw for the larger companies and the best talent for those companies, these points need urgent, concerted attention at a government level.

When it comes to the integration experience of finding friend, and establishing a life here, that is very much where the relocations industry comes in. Whilst there is a trend, especially with younger workers, to relocate themselves, the results show this isn’t being as successful as it could be. Now, more than ever, tapping into the knowledge and network of Belgian Relocations Agents is the best way of ensuring a successful placement.

Our members help assignees have a less stressful move, establish themselves in Belgium faster by connecting them with groups who can help. That’s really the only way we can move to improve on the 36^th place for general happiness.