Summary
This PESTLE country analysis report on Belgium provides a holistic view of the country, with insightful analysis of current and future issues, supplemented with relevant quantitative data to support trend analysis.
Synopsis
- Understand the political system in Belgium through analysis of key figures in the country and governance indicators.
- Understand the economic situation in Belgium through a balanced assessment of core macroeconomic issues.
- Understand customer demographics in Belgium through analysis of income distribution and the rural-urban split, as well as healthcare and education.
- Understand the technological landscape in Belgium through analysis of relevant laws and policies, as well as patents data.
- Understand the legal landscape in Belgium through analysis of the judicial system as well as performance of the legal indicators
- Understand the environmental landscape in Belgium through analysis of the environmental regulations and the performance of the environmetal indicators
Scope
- The political landscape section discusses the evolution of the political scenario in Belgium, as well as the country's economic, social, foreign, and defense policies. The section also discusses the country's performance according to World Bank Governance Indicators.
- The economic landscape section outlines the evolution of Belgium 's economy, as well as the country's performance in terms of GDP growth, composition by sector (agriculture, industry, and services), fiscal situation, international investment position, monetary situation, credit disbursement, banking sector, and employment."
- The social landscape section analyzes the government's social welfare policies, as well as the country's performance in terms of healthcare, income distribution, and education.
Reasons to buy
- What is the outlook in Belgium in terms of political stability, policies towards business, and the popularity of the government?
- How does Belgium perform in terms of GDP growth, its fiscal situation, international investment position, monetary situation, and employment?
- How does Belgium perform in terms of healthcare, income distribution, and education?
- How does Belgium perform in terms of technology-intensive sectors like IT, life sciences, and R&D expenditure trends?
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Table of Contents
Overview 2
Catalyst 2
Summary 2
Key findings 2
PESTLE highlights 4
Key fundamentals 6
Key Facts and Geographic Location 14
Key facts 14
Geographical location 15
PESTLE Analysis 16
Summary 16
Political analysis 17
Overview 17
Current strengths 17
Current challenges 18
Future prospects 19
Future risks 19
Economic analysis 20
Overview 20
Current strengths 20
Current challenges 22
Future prospects 27
Future risks 28
Declining public investments 28
Social analysis 30
Overview 30
Current strengths 30
Current challenges 32
Future prospects 35
Future risks 36
Technological analysis 39
Overview 39
Current strengths 39
Current challenges 40
Future prospects 40
Future risks 41
Legal analysis 42
Overview 42
Current strengths 42
Current challenges 43
Future prospects 44
Future risks 44
Environmental analysis 45
Overview 45
Current strengths 45
Current challenges 46
Future prospects 46
Future risks 46
Political Landscape 48
Summary 48
Evolution 48
Pre-1945 48
1946-1995 49
1996-2017 49
Structure and policies 51
Key political figures 51
Structure of government 51
Key political parties 52
Composition of government 53
Key policies 54
Performance 56
Governance indicators 56
Outlook 57
Economic Landscape 58
Summary 58
Evolution 58
Pre-1945 58
1946-1990 58
1991-2017 59
Structure and policies 60
Financial authorities and regulators 60
Stock market 61
Insurance 61
Performance 61
GDP and growth rate 61
GDP composition by sector 63
Fiscal situation 66
International investment position 67
Key monetary indicators 68
Unemployment 70
Outlook 70
Social Landscape 71
Summary 71
Evolution 71
Structure and policies 71
Demographic composition 71
Education 73
Healthcare 74
Social welfare 74
Performance 74
Healthcare 74
Income distribution 75
Education 75
Outlook 76
Technological Landscape 77
Summary 77
Evolution 77
Structure and policies 77
R&D 78
Performance 78
Mobile and internet 78
Outlook 79
Legal Landscape 80
Summary 80
Evolution 80
Structure and policies 80
Judicial system 80
Tax regulations 81
Labor laws 81
Trade regulations 82
Performance 82
Effectiveness of the legal system 82
Outlook 82
Environmental Landscape 83
Summary 83
Evolution 83
Structure and policies 83
Environmental regulations 83
Performance 84
Environmental impact 84
Outlook 85
Appendix 86
ISO codes of selected countries 86
Ask the analyst 87
Disclaimer 87
List of Tables
Table 1: Belgium - Key Fundamentals, 2015-2022f 6
Table 2: Belgium - Key Facts, 2018 14
Table 3: Analysis of Belgium’s Political Landscape 17
Table 4: Analysis of Belgium’s Economic Landscape 20
Table 5: Analysis of Belgium’s Social Landscape 30
Table 6: Analysis of Belgium’s Technology Landscape 39
Table 7: Patents Granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, 2010-2015 41
Table 8: Analysis of Belgium’s Legal Landscape 42
Table 9: Analysis of Belgium’s Environmental Landscape 45
Table 10: Population by Age (Percentage of Population, by Gender) in 2017 72
List Of Figures
Figure 1: Map of Belgium 15
Figure 2: GDP Per Hours Worked (Constant 2010 Prices, PPP), 2017 21
Figure 3: General Government Balance (EUR Billion and Percentage), 2009-2017 22
Figure 4: General Government Gross Debt in Selected European Countries (%), 2008-2017 23
Figure 5: Nominal Unit Labor Cost Index (2010 = 100), 2005-2017 24
Figure 6: Real Effective Exchange Rate (2010 = 100), 2005-2017 25
Figure 7: Export Market Share (% of World Total), 2000-2017 26
Figure 8: Tax Wedge (Percentage of Labor Cost), 2017 27
Figure 9: Public Investment (Percentage of GDP), 2016 29
Figure 10: Public Investment (Percentage of GDP), 2016 29
Figure 11: Better Life Index, 2017 31
Figure 12: Social Expenditure (Percentage of GDP), 2016 32
Figure 13: Pension Costs (Percentage of GDP) 2013-2060 33
Figure 14: Old Age Dependency Ratio in Belgium, 1950-2075 34
Figure 15: Employment Rates (Percentage of Working Population Aged 15 - 64), 2012-2017 35
Figure 16: Employment and Unemployment Rates by Region (%), 2016 36
Figure 17: Unemployment Rates as Percentage of Active Population, 2017 37
Figure 18: Foreign-Born Unemployment (%), 2017 38
Figure 19: Inflow of Foreign-Born Population (Millions) to Belgium, 2009-2017 38
Figure 20: R&D Expenditure (Percentage of GDP), 2007 - 2016 40
Figure 21: Total Tax Wedge (Percentage of Labor Cost), 2008-2017 43
Figure 22: Belgium - Key Political Events Since Independence 50
Figure 23: Key Political Figures, 2017 51
Figure 24: Structure of Government 52
Figure 25: Belgium Chamber of Representatives after the May 2014 Elections 54
Figure 26: Belgium’s Historical GDP Growth (%), 2007-2017 60
Figure 27: GDP and GDP Growth Rate ($ Billion), 2012-2022f 62
Figure 28: GDP Composition by Sector (%), 2017 63
Figure 29: Agricultural Output (€ Billion), 2012-2017 64
Figure 30: Industrial Output (€ Billion), 2012-2017 65
Figure 31: Service Output (€ Billion), 2012-2017 66
Figure 32: External Trade ($ Billion), 2013-2017 67
Figure 33: Consumer Price Index and Index-Based Inflation, 2012-2022f 69
Figure 34: Unemployment Rate (Thousands), 2012-2022f 70
Figure 35: Religious Composition (%) 73
Figure 36: Healthcare Expenditure ($ Billion), 2012-2017 75
Figure 37: Educational Expenditure ($ Billion), 2011-2016 76
Figure 38: Internet Users (Millions), 2013-2017 79
Figure 39: Belgium’s Judicial Structure, 2017 81
Figure 40: CO2 Emissions (Metric Tons), 2008-2015 85
