Belgium

Belgium draws several hundred thousand immigrants from neighboring France and the Netherlands thanks to shared languages and geographic proximity. Historical labor agreements from the mid-twentieth century also created large, enduring Moroccan, Italian, and Turkish communities. Meanwhile, deep colonial ties continue to bring tens of thousands of people from the Democratic Republic of Congo in search of economic opportunity.

Over the past few decades, European Union expansion dramatically shifted these migration patterns. Economic integration brought roughly two hundred thousand new residents from Eastern European nations like Romania and Poland. More recently, global conflicts reshaped the population again as wars drove tens of thousands of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine to seek safety in Belgium.

Just as shared languages draw people to Belgium, they also guide where Belgians choose to move, with well over two hundred thousand currently living in neighboring France and the Netherlands. Lifestyle and retirement opportunities pull tens of thousands more southward to sunny destinations like Spain and Italy. Meanwhile, shared borders and lucrative financial sectors attract a steady stream of professionals to nearby Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Over the past few decades, European Union expansion and economic mobility transformed these outgoing patterns. As Eastern European nations integrated into the broader European economy, thousands of Belgian-born citizens relocated to countries like Poland and Romania for new business ventures. Additionally, return migration and deep family ties drove rapid growth in places like Turkiye, where the Belgian-born population surged from just a few thousand to around forty thousand today.