During 2018 and 2019, the manufacturing industry in the euro area saw a stronger slowdown than elsewhere owing to its greater dependence on exports, in an international environment marked by heightened trade tensions and uncertainty

Working Paper N° 382

How many Belgian households own their main residence? How many of them have other types of properties or financial investments? Which ones are more indebted? The latest results of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey provide answers to these and many other questions on the financial situation of Belgian households

In Belgium, the activity rate for almost all age segments is below the average for the three neighbouring countries. Even within the 25-to-54 year-old group, where labour market participation is at its highest, there is a wide individual distribution, notably by gender and level of education. The article also quantifies the manpower reserve for the country’s three Regions.

The prospect of higher living standards has been a major attraction of EU membership and is arguably an antidote against rising EU scepticism. But does the EU “convergence machine” still work? Have initially poorer European countries and regions succeeded in catching up with the income levels of their richer peers? And what has been the relative performance of countries and regions in Western Europe, including Belgium?

Measures taken to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the Belgian economy

Belgian activity growth is expected to decline to 0.2 % in the first quarter of 2020