Belgium
Brussels | September 2023
EUR 45.53; EUR 7.06 (USD 7.57) for food.
This is based on Belgium's at-risk-of-monetary poverty threshold for a single person in 2021, and average low-income households' proportion of expenditure spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Belgium follows EU poverty measurement approach which looks at people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE), who are in at least one of three situations: (a) Having disposable income below the monetary poverty threshold (set at 60% of the country’s median disposable income of individuals); (b) Living in a household with low work intensity (working adults who have worked less than a fifth of a year); (c) Being in severe material and social deprivation (not being able to afford four of nine situations including eating meat, fish or a protein equivalent every second day, and paying rent or utility bills). Data on poverty and living conditions is collected by Statbel through the annual survey on income and living conditions. In 2022, 18.7% of Belgians were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, while the monetary poverty rate was 13.2% (1.51 million people).
Overall inflation peaked at 12.27% in October 2022, driven by energy prices due to the Ukraine War disrupting natural gas supplies. Food product inflation rose sharply since early 2022 to reach 17.02% in Mar 2023. Food prices especially for oils, fish, fairy products, bread and cereals, and meat rose sharply in 2023.
Note: Latest available standards and exchange rates were taken as of September 2023, when the photography was undertaken.
Understanding more
2022: More than 2 million Belgians at risk of poverty or social exclusion
A troubling uptick: Inflation in Belgium rises for first time since October
Food inflation in Belgium is in line with neighbouring countries