Belgium Economic Structure
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Located almost at the heart of Europe, Belgium’s economic structure reflects the developments that took place in the continent. Being the first country of the continent to take up the industrial revolution, Belgium has fairly well developed mining, steel making and textile industries.[br]
Located almost at the heart of Europe, Belgium’s economic structure reflects the developments that took place in the continent. Being the first country of the continent to take up the industrial revolution, Belgium has fairly well developed mining, steel making and textile industries.[br]
Belgium Economic Structure
Belgium’s economic structure is characterized by its highly productive workforce, high GNP and high exports per capita. The Belgian economy is highly service oriented and is well supported by its efficient transportation arrangements of ports, roads, canals and railways.
GDP – per capita (PPP) is one of the highest and was $36,600 according to 2009 estimates. The 2008 figure was $38,000, which showed improvement from $37,600 in 2007.
Overall the country ranked 28th in the world in 2009.
Contributing to the GDP are the various economy sectors, such as:
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Agriculture
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Industries
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Services
This is how they contribute to the economy (in percentage):
In terms of providing employment, the largest sector eg Belgium economy: services provide maximum employment followed by industries and then agriculture. This is how the labor force of 5.01 million in absorbed in the economy:
The Belgian economy, however, struggles with a high 8.3% unemployment according to the 2009 statistics. The unemployment rate increased from 7% of 2008.[br]
Almost 15.2% of the population lives under the poverty line and as per the Gini index, the country has an index of 28, which puts Belgium in the 120th spot in the world. As far as the budget is concerned, Belgium has expenditures exceeding its revenues. In 2009, the country’s revenues were $204.9 billion, while expenditure stood at $230.9 billion.
Public debt was around 90% of the GDP, which was a significant increase from the 2008 level of 89.6%. However, the country managed to register 0% inflation in 2009, which had remained at 4.5% in 2008.
