Demographics of Brussels

The population of Brussels (officially the Brussels Capital Region) in 2022 was 1,222,637^[1] In recent years, the city has witnessed a remarkable increase in its population. In general, the population of Brussels is younger than the national average, and the gap between rich and poor is wider.

Density

The density of Brussels is also high, Brussels is one of the most urbanised areas of Europe.

Age

The average age of Brussels is much lower than on average the rest of Belgium.

More information Brussels, Less the 18 years ...

Brussels[1]	2022
	Less the 18 years	18 to 64	65 years or more
Population	273,645	788,876	160,116

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Today, the Brussels-Capital Region is legally bilingual, with both French and Dutch having official status,^[5] as is the administration of the 19 municipalities.^[6]

Owing to migration and to its international role, Brussels is home to a large number of native speakers of languages other than French or Dutch. Currently, about half of the population speaks a home language other than these two.^[7] In 2013, academic research showed that approximately 17% of families spoke none of the official languages in the home, while in a further 23% a foreign language was used alongside French. The share of unilingual French-speaking families had fallen to 38% and that of Dutch-speaking families to 5%, while the percentage of bilingual Dutch-French families reached 17%. At the same time, French remains widely spoken: in 2013, French was spoken "well to perfectly" by 88% of the population, while for Dutch this percentage was only 23% (down from 33% in 2000);^[6] the other most commonly known languages were English (30%), Arabic (18%), Spanish (9%), German (7%) and Italian and Turkish (5% each).^[4] Despite the rise of English as a second language in Brussels, including as an unofficial compromise language between French and Dutch, as well as the working language for some of its international businesses and institutions, French remains the lingua franca and all public services are conducted exclusively in French or Dutch.

Historically, Brussels has been predominantly Roman Catholic, especially since the expulsion of Protestants in the 16th century. This is clear from the large number of historical churches in the region, particularly in the City of Brussels. The pre-eminent Catholic cathedral in Brussels is the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, serving as the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels. On the north-western side of the region, the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Minor Basilica and parish church, as well as the 14th largest church building in the world. The Church of Our Lady of Laeken holds the tombs of many members of the Belgian royal family, including all the former Belgian monarchs, within the Royal Crypt.

In reflection of its multicultural makeup, Brussels hosts a variety of religious communities, as well as large numbers of atheists and agnostics. Minority faiths include Islam, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, and Buddhism. A 2016 survey revealed that approximately 40% of Brussels residents identified as Catholics (12% practicing and 28% non-practicing), 30% as non-religious, 23% as Muslim (19% practicing and 3% non-practicing), 3% as Protestants (2% born-again, primarily Pentecostals and some Evangelicals, and 1% from mainline Protestantism), and 4% adhered to other religions. Among born-again Protestants, 93% were practicing (98% of Pentecostals and 86% of Evangelicals), whereas only 29% of mainline Protestants were practicing Christians, with 71% non-practicing.^[8][9]

As guaranteed by Belgian law, recognised religions and non-religious philosophical organisations (French: organisations laïques, Dutch: vrijzinnige levensbeschouwelijke organisaties)^[10] enjoy public funding and school courses. It was once the case that every pupil in an official school from 6 years old to 18 had to choose 2 hours per week of compulsory religious—or non-religious-inspired morals—courses. However, in 2015, the Belgian Constitutional court ruled religious studies could no longer be required in the primary and secondary educational systems.^[11]

Brussels has a large concentration of Muslims, mostly of Moroccan, Syrian and Iraqi ancestry. The Great Mosque of Brussels, located in the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark, is the oldest mosque in Brussels. Belgium does not collect statistics by ethnic background or religious beliefs, so exact figures are unknown. It was estimated that, in 2005, people of Muslim background living in the Brussels Region numbered 256,220 and accounted for 25.5% of the city's population, a much higher concentration than those of the other regions of Belgium.^[12]

Belgium does not collect ethnic data of its citizens but does have a unique classification on the status of where its citizens originate from. This classification is not based on the place of birth, but takes into account previous nationalities of the person and of their parents.^[13]

In 2020, 67,9% of the residents of Belgium at large were of Belgian origin (i.e., the resident had no previous nationality other than Belgian and both of their parents have the Belgian nationality as first nationality), and 32,1% were of overall foreign origin. Of these foreign origin residents, 14,7% were of non-European origin and 8,5% were of African origin.^[13]

A total of 37.5% of Brussels residents are of non-European origin as of 2023, according to Statistics Belgium.^[14]

In 2020, among those aged under 18, 83,9% had at least one parent of non-Belgian origin and of those 60,1% of non-European origin (including 37% of African origin).^[13]