Today, we are celebrating European Statistics Day and highlighting the global importance of having reliable and informative data. The National Bank plays a key role in our country by providing a wide range of statistical information about the economy and trade, households, public authorities, the financial sector, etc. It is not just the figures that we publish every day helping our own institution to pinpoint the day-to-day situation and economic and financial challenges, but these data also contribute to debates on public policies and regularly serve as a basis for scientific research. To mark European Statistics Day, our number-crunching colleagues in the Bank have analysed the changes in our consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 crisis. Until now, all we could come up with was assumptions, but our figures now reflect reality. Check out our findings below:

In 2020 the pandemic caused an unprecedented drop (-7.6%) in household consumption in Belgium: spending in hotels, cafes and restaurants was among the most affected, followed by clothing, culture and leisure and transport spending. Confined to the home, Belgian households, on the other hand, cooked more, arranged their interiors, and communicated virtually, as evidenced by the increase in spending on (TV)communication, food and goods and services for the home.