This country comparison is a concise, tabular overview of numerous data from our respective country pages for Belgium and Netherlands. There, we provide many explanations and details per country that go far beyond this comparison.
See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
The data for each country can be found here: Belgium and Netherlands
Maximum daily temperatures in comparison
Belgium
Netherlands
General information
| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: | Western Europe | Western Europe |
| Area: | 30,530 km² | 41,543 km² |
| Official language: | Dutch, French, German | Dutch |
| Government form: | Federal parliamentary republic (under constitutional monarchy) | Parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Independent since: | 1830 AD | 1648 AD |
| Capital: | Brussels | Amsterdam |
Population
Details for Belgium and the Netherlands| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Population: | 11,593,000 | 17,533,000 |
| Inhabitants/km²: | 379.7 | 422.0 |
| Life expectancy males: | Ø 80 years | Ø 80 years |
| Life expectancy females: | Ø 84 years | Ø 83 years |
| Average age: | Ø 41.6 years | Ø 42.8 years |
| Birth rate: | 10.20 ‰ | 10.20 ‰ |
| Death rate: | 9.70 ‰ | 9.80 ‰ |
| Migrationrate: | 4.18 ‰ | 1.89 ‰ |
Quality of life
Values from 0 (bad) to 100 (very good)See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Political stability: | 71 | 81 |
| Civil rights: | 88 | 99 |
| Health: | 90 | 83 |
| Climate: | 20 | 21 |
| Cost of Living: | 32 | 40 |
| Popularity: | 40 | 36 |
Economy
Details for Belgium and the Netherlands| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Currency: | euro (1 EUR = 100 Cent) | euro (1 EUR =100 Cent) |
| Unemployment rate: | 5.6 % | 3.5 % |
| Inflation rate: | 9.60 % | 10.00 % |
| Cost of Living: (USA = 100%) | 87.72 % | 90.02 % |
| Commercial taxes and contributions: | 55.40 % | 41.20 % |
| Average income: | 50,490 US$ | 55,200 US$ |
| Government debt (% of GDP): | 108.40 % | 52.33 % |
| Government debt (% of GDP): | 90.71 % | 69.86 % |
| Corruption index: | 27 (good) | 20 (good) |
| BEL: total | per 1000 inh. | NLD: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross domestic product: | 594,104 M US$ | 51.25 M US$ | 1,012,847 M US$ | 57.77 M US$ |
| Gross national product: | 585,375 M US$ | 50.49 M US$ | 967,837 M US$ | 55.20 M US$ |
| Exported goods: | 515,625 M US$ | 44.48 M US$ | 839,646 M US$ | 47.89 M US$ |
| Imported goods: | 509,018 M US$ | 43.91 M US$ | 735,748 M US$ | 41.96 M US$ |
| Budget surplus: | -22,476 M US$ | -1.94 M US$ | 93 M US$ | 0.01 M US$ |
Infrastructure
Details for Belgium and the Netherlands| BEL: total | per 1000 inh. | NLD: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadways: | 118,414 km | 10.21 km | 139,124 km | 7.93 km |
| Railways: | 3,592 km | 0.31 km | 3,058 km | 0.17 km |
| Waterways: | 2,043 km | 0.18 km | 6,237 km | 0.36 km |
| Harbours: | 201 | 0.0173 | 1,199 | 0.0684 |
| Passenger airports: | 5 | 0.0004 | 5 | 0.0003 |
Energy balance
Details for Belgium and the Netherlands| BEL: total | per 1000 inh. | NLD: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production capacity: | 235.90 bn kWh | 20.35 m kWh | 380.26 bn kWh | 21.69 m kWh |
| Energy consumption: | 81.17 bn kWh | 7.00 m kWh | 109.80 bn kWh | 6.26 m kWh |
| Energy production: | 85.27 bn kWh | 7.36 m kWh | 117.52 bn kWh | 6.70 m kWh |
| Energy export: | 14.05 bn kWh | 1.21 m kWh | 22.43 bn kWh | 1.28 m kWh |
| Energy imports: | 13.39 bn kWh | 1.16 m kWh | 19.77 bn kWh | 1.13 m kWh |
| CO2 emissions: | 93.01 m t | 8,022.85 t | 146.34 m t | 8,346.58 t |
Telecommunication
Details for Belgium and the Netherlands| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| International dialing: | +32 | +31 |
| Internet domain: | .be | .nl |
| BEL total | BEL per 1000 inh. | NLD total | NLD per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlines: | 3,293,420 | 284 | 5,024,000 | 287 |
| Mobile cellulars: | 11,740,118 | 1013 | 21,888,000 | 1248 |
| Internet server: | 5,192,000 | 448 | 13,699,000 | 781 |
| Internet users: | 10,756,947 | 928 | 16,139,690 | 921 |
| Broadband Internet: | 4,920,679 | 424 | 7,614,578 | 434 |
Healthcare system
Details for Belgium and the Netherlands| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital beds per 1000 inh.: | 5.58 | 3.17 |
| Physicians per 1000 inh.: | 3.32 | 3.51 |
| Diabetes: | 4.6 % | 5.4 % |
| Tuberculosis: | 0.08 ‰ | 0.04 ‰ |
| Tuberculosis cure rate: | 67.0 % | 83.0 % |
| Smokers: | 23.4 % | 22.2 % |
Climate
We also provide a more detailed climate comparison of both countries.The data for each country can be found here: Belgium and Netherlands
| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime temperatures: | 14.9 °C | 14.4 °C |
| Nighttime temperatures: | 7.3 °C | 6.9 °C |
| Rel. humidity: | 82 % | 80 % |
| Rain days: | 10.6 | 10.7 |
| Sunshine hours per day: | 4.7 | 4.9 |
Maximum daily temperatures in comparison
Belgium
Netherlands
Native languages
| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Dutch: | 54.2 % | 95.6 % |
| French: | 41.1 % | n/a |
| Fries: | n/a | 3.7 % |
| Italian: | 2.1 % | n/a |
| Arabic: | n/a | 0.9 % |
| Turkish: | n/a | 0.8 % |
| German: | 0.7 % | n/a |
| other: | 1.9 % | -1.0 % |
Religions
| Belgium | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity: | 75.0 % | 47.0 % |
| Nondenominational: | n/a | 42.0 % |
| Islam: | n/a | 5.0 % |
| Jewry: | 0.3 % | 0.2 % |
| other: | 24.7 % | 5.8 % |