Belgium

Region: Europe and North America
 

Classification of economies by geographic region is based on that of the United Nations Statistics Division.

High Income
 

Based on the income levels set out by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Global Competitiveness Report. However, the groupings are slightly different due to the numbers of economies covered. For GEM, the low income group contains both those classified as low income and lower middle by WEF, and the middle income group has those that WEF groups as upper middle. High income is the same for both GEM and WEF.

Population: 11.4 million (2018)
 

Population data is from the World Bank, except Palestinian Territories World Population Review and Taiwan Worldometers

GDP Growth: 1.7% (2017)
 

GDP growth data is from the World Economic Outlook Database, except Palestinian Territories Worldometers

GDP Per Capita: $43,672 (2017)
 

GDP per capita data is from the World Economic Outlook Database, except Palestinian Territories Worldometers

Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Attitudes

Most recent data: 2015
  • Belgium 2015
  • Belgium 2014
  • Global Average
  • Regional Average
  • Income Level Average

Self-Perceptions

  • 1
     
    Perceived Opportunities Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population (individuals involved in any stage of entrepreneurial activity excluded) who see good opportunities to start a firm in the area where they live
  • 2
     
    Perceived Capabilities Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population (individuals involved in any stage of entrepreneurial activity excluded) who believe they have the required skills and knowledge to start a business
  • 3
     
    Fear of Failure Rate*:Percentage of the 18–64 population who agree that they see good opportunities but would not start a business for fear it might fail. NOTE: this is a percentage of those seeing good opportunities, and not the total adult population
  • 4
     
    Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population (individuals involved in any stage of entrepreneurial activity excluded) who are latent entrepreneurs and who intend to start a business within three years
  • 1. Perceived Opportunities Rate
  • 2. Perceived Capabilities Rate
  • 3. Fear of Failure Rate*
  • 4. Entrepreneurial Intentations Rate:

Activity

  • 1
     
    Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA):Percentage of 18-64 population who are either a nascent entrepreneur or owner-manager of a new business
  • 2
     
    Established Business Ownership Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population who are currently an owner-manager of an established business, i.e., owning and managing a running business that has paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than 42 months
  • 3
     
    Entrepreneurial Employee Activity Rate:Rate of involvement of employees in entrepreneurial activities, such as developing or launching new goods or services, or setting up a new business unit, a new establishment or subsidiary
  • 1. Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA)
  • 2. Established Business Ownership Rate
  • 3. Entrepreneurial Employee Activity Rate

Motivations

  • 1
     
    Motivational Index:Percentage of those involved in TEA that are improvement-driven opportunity motivated, divided by the percentage of TEA that is necessity-motivated
  • 1. Motivational Index

Gender Equity

  • 1
     
    Female/Male TEA Ratio:Percentage of female 18-64 population who are either a nascent entrepreneur or owner-manager of a 'new business', divided by the equivalent percentage for their male counterparts
  • 2
     
    Female/Male Opportunity-Driven TEA Ratio:Percentage of those females involved in TEA who (i) claim to be driven by opportunity as opposed to finding no other option for work; and (ii) who indicate the main driver for being involved in this opportunity is being independent or increasing their income, rather than just maintaining their income, divided by the equivalent percentage for their male counterparts
  • 1. Female/Male TEA Ratio
  • 2. Female/Male Opportunity-Driven TEA Ratio

Impact

  • 1
     
    High Job Creation Expectation Rate:Percentage of those involved in TEA who expect to create 6 or more jobs in 5 years
  • 2
     
    Innovation Rate:Percentage of those involved in TEA who indicate that their product or service is new to at least some customers AND that few/no businesses offer the same product
  • 3
     
    Business Services Sector Rate:Percentage of those involved in TEA in the 'Business Services' sector - Information and Communication, Financial Intermediation and Real Estate, Professional Services or Administrative Services, as defined by the ISIC 4.0 Business Type Codebook
  • 1. High Job Creation Expectation Rate
  • 2. Innovation Rate
  • 3. Business Services Sector Rate

Societal Values

  • 1
     
    High Status to Successful Entrepreneurs Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population who agree with the statement that in their country, successful entrepreneurs receive high status
  • 2
     
    Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice Rate:Percentage of 18-64 population who agree with the statement that in their country, most people consider starting a business as a desirable career choice
  • 1. High Status to Successful Entrepreneurs Rate
  • 2. Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice Rate

Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions

Most recent data: 2015

Expert Ratings: 1 = highly insufficient, 5 = highly sufficient

  • Belgium 2015
  • Belgium 2014
  • Regional Average
  • Income Level Average
  • Global Average
  • Belgium 2015
  • Belgium 2014
  • Regional Average
  • Income Level Average
  • Global Average

Immediate impact: January - July 2020

 

A recent survey of 200 Belgian startups, conducted by an organization called Support Our Startups, forecast serious concerns:

• 78.2% reported a significant revenue loss in March 2020, with almost a quarter of those reporting losses greater than 75%;

• When asked about revenue expectations for all of 2020, about a third expected a decline between 25% and 50%, and 22% predicted a loss of between 50% and 75%;

• 61.9% stated they were currently looking for any financing that could help their business stay afloat;

• The number of startups with enough cash to last six months was about 15% before the current crisis; as a result of the pandemic this increased to almost 50%

 

Immediate policy interventions: January - July 2020

 

No specific measures were taken by the Belgian government to lessen the impact of previous financial crises, natural event catastrophes or economic shocks, but in general there are many measures in place to stimulate entrepreneurship, including tax and financial incentives, investment guarantees, mortgages and loans, and HR policies (education and training). However, to limit the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both businesses and the unemployed, a series of measures has been announced, including tax relief, financial incentives, and changes to HR policy. Tax measures included postponement of the tax filing deadlines and deferred payment of personal income tax, withholding tax, VAT and social security contributions. In terms of financial incentives, the government of Flanders has provided “nuisance incentives” of one-off payments of €4,000 to companies that have been forced to close because of COVID-19. For those companies that have only been affected by closure over weekends, Flanders has provided a payment of €2,000. In addition, all affected companies have received €160 per day, starting from the 21st day of closure.

For enterprises that were not obliged to close down but have been affected by a turnover loss of at least 60% between March 14 and April 30, 2020, the government of Flanders has provided a compensation premium through the Flanders Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). The Flanders government has also expanded investment firm PMV’s “generic” guarantee capacity of €1.9 billion by adding a COVID-19 crisis guarantee of €100 million. In terms of HR policy, the national employment office RVA has considered all temporary unemployment related to the COVID-19 pandemic as “due to force majeure” until 30 June 2020. The application procedure for receiving subsequent temporary unemployment benefits has been simplified as much as possible.

 

Future economic / policy outlook

 

The National Bank of Belgium has made the following quarterly predictions for GDP for 2020: first quarter: +1.4%; second quarter: –9%; third quarter: +6.4%; fourth quarter: +2.3%. The unemployment rate is expected to increase to 5.3% in 2020, 7.4% in 2021 and 8.4% in 2022. The recovery plan is still in development. There are numerous committees and steering groups working on recovery and reliance plans at various levels: federal (Belgium) and regional (Flanders, Walloon, Brussels) and in various domains (economic, medical, multidisciplinary, etc.).

 

Belgium Reports

Name
Report information
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  • Year of publication: 2016
  • Category: National Reports
  • Language: English
  • Upload date: 2016-05-26

  • No less than 11% of Belgian respondents want to start a new business within the next 3 years. However, a considerable gap remains between dream and reality, mainly due to fear of failure and a lack of self-confidence. It is also striking that people who start a new business effectively tend to do so based on necessity rather than opportunity compared to benchmark countries. Start-ups have rather low ambitions in terms of job creation and innovation. Nevertheless, the international mindset in Flanders is among the highest in Europe.
  • URL: https://gemconsortium.org/report/49540
 GEM Belgium and Flanders 2014 Report
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GEM Belgium and Flanders 2013 Report
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GEM Belgium 2011 Report
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GEM Belgium 2012 Report
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GEM Belgium 2010 Report
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