Belgium Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in belgium, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
Investment Climate Statement
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The U.S. Department of State’s Investment Climate Statements help U.S. companies make informed business decisions by providing up-to-date information on the investment climates of more than 170 countries and economies. They are prepared by our embassies and consulates around the world and analyze each economy’s openness to foreign investment. Topics include:

•    Openness to, and Restrictions upon, Foreign Investment, 
•    Investment and Taxation Treaties,
•    Legal Regime,
•    Industrial Policies,
•    Protection of Property Rights,
•    Financial Sector,
•    State-owned Enterprises,
•    Corruption,
•    Labor Policies and Practices,
•    Political and Security Environment, and
•    U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs

Each statement provides a starting point for U.S. firms and offers a point of contact at the relevant U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

These reports are also a resource for foreign governments to create business environments that ensure fair treatment for the United States and our companies and investors. 

To access the full Investment Climate Statement, visit the U.S. Department of State Investment Climate Statements website.

Executive Summary - Belgium

Belgium boasts an open market and is well-connected to the major economies of the world. As a logistical gateway to Europe’s major economies and host to major EU institutions and NATO, Belgium is a competitive market and destination for U.S. investors. Belgium is a highly developed, long-time economic partner of the United States that benefits from an extremely well-educated workforce, world-renowned research centers, and the infrastructure to support a broad range of economic activities.

On January 1, 2024, Belgium introduced a minimum tax of 15 percent for multinational corporations with revenue exceeding €750 million ($809 million) on an annual basis. This revision implements an agreement struck in the OECD – and adopted by the European Union – setting a global minimum tax at this rate.
Belgium has a dynamic economy and attracts significant levels of investment in sectors including:
•    chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, and composites.
•    environmental technologies.
•    food processing and packaging.
•    health technologies.
•    information and communication.
•    and textiles, apparel, and sporting goods.

The United States remains one of Belgium’s key trading partners accountings for approximately 6.5 percent of total exports in 2024. Only neighboring countries—Germany (19%) France (13.7%), and the Netherlands (12.7%)—rank higher. In 2024 the United States had the second highest trade in goods surplus with Belgium among all EU member states. Belgian companies exported over $28 billion (€26 billion) worth of goods to the United States while imports totaled $34 billion (€32 billion). Pharmaceutical and chemical products are a cornerstone of Belgian exports. According to the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency, about 60 percent of chemical products and 15 percent of pharmaceutical products produced in Belgium are exported to the United States. Other industries with significant exports to the United States include both heavy machinery and diamonds and gemstones—each of which accounted for at least $542 million (€500 million) to the United States in 2024. Historically embedded supply chains and specialized transportation infrastructure such as the Port of Antwerp-Bruges strengthen U.S. companies’ overall production and provide a valuable entry point for U.S. goods to the European market.

According to the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), Belgium’s central bank, the Belgian economy grew by 1 percent in 2024, marking its slowest expansion since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Industrial activity contracted slightly, but modest growth in the services sector helped offset the decline. Business investment growth has been volatile in recent years. A remarkable investment boom in 2023 that pushed year-on-year growth rates to 10 percent ended abruptly late that same year. Growth rates have been much more subdued since then, with business investment expanding at a moderate pace in the fourth quarter of 2024. Geopolitical tensions, including trade policy shifts and supply chain disruptions, weighed on business confidence. Belgium’s budget deficit rose from 4.2 percent of GDP in 2023 to 4.6 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, Belgium recorded a government debt ratio of 104.6 percent in 2024.

View the Belgium Investment Climate Statement. For more information on the investment climate of Member States, please consult the relevant Member States’ Country Commercial Guide.

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