The Belgian employment rate increased to 72.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022. This was calculated by the federal statistics agency Statbel, reports Minister of Work and Economy Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS). According to him, the government’s target of reaching an employment rate of 80 percent by 2030 is “within reach”.
According to the minister, never before have so many people been employed in our country. In two years’ time, the employment rate has risen from 69.9 percent to 72.3 percent. Compared to the third quarter of 2022, this is an increase of 0.2 percentage points. On an annual basis, the increase amounts to 0.7 percentage point.
If the increase continues at the same rate, Belgium will reach an employment rate of 80 percent by 2030, Dermagne argues. He emphasizes that the result is “exceptionally strong” given the corona pandemic, the July 2021 floods, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.
LOOK. At the end of last year, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) also said he believed in the employment rate of 80 percent
In addition, the federal government’s labor market measures “have yet to reach full cruising speed,” says Dermagne. This includes a number of measures to improve the combination of work and private life, such as the four-day work week.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Belgian employment rate grew faster than that of neighboring countries Germany and France, but is still below the European average. That remained stable in the second half of 2022 at just under 75 percent.
Moreover, in the EU only Greece (66.2 percent), Spain (69.5 percent), Croatia (70.5 percent), Italy (65.5 percent) and Romania (68.5 percent) have a lower employment rate than Belgium , according to figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. In Germany and the Netherlands the employment rate is more than 80 percent, in France it is 74.2 percent.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.