🇧🇪 Belgium

Belgium uses the euro directly and records a high public-debt ratio — fourth-highest Maastricht ratio in the EU after Greece, Italy and France. There is no national-currency buffer. ECB policy lands on Belgian wages and savings in full. The ratio is still rising.

Public debt (Q1 2026)

109.1% of GDP

Public debt (absolute)

€706.6 billion

Currency

Euro (direct)

Purchasing power loss (since 2015)

27.9%

Debt: Eurostat, Q1 2026 Maastricht debt. 109.1% of GDP, €706,581 million. Source.

Purchasing power of €100

Official HICP since 2015 has cut the real value of a euro in Belgian shops. The fourth-highest Maastricht ratio in the EU is not a shield for the currency. It is still a euro, still created at the centre. A rising debt-to-GDP ratio does not restore purchasing power already lost.

Source: Eurostat HICP snapshot, as of July 2026 (not a live feed). 2026 = Jan–Jul average. Belgium series. Methodology.

What €100 still buys

The 2026 bar is Belgium HICP purchasing power versus 2015. Same snapshot as this page's chart. Not a live feed. Not a picture of a real banknote. The extra bar is euro-area HICP from the same snapshot method, not a live feed.

€100 in 2015
€100 in 2026
Euro area 2026

Compare what €100 still buys across sixteen countries.

The same basket, a higher till

A Belgium all-items HICP basket that cost €100 in 2015 costs this much at the 2026 year-to-date average. Same snapshot as this page's chart. Not a list of groceries. Not a live feed.

The same basket, a higher till
Item	Amount
2015	—
2026	—
Extra to pay	—

The tax that never hits your payslip

Type a euro amount (cash or monthly pay). The deduction uses Belgian HICP purchasing power versus 2015, the same snapshot as the chart on this page. Example amount only. Not an official wage. Not financial advice.

Amount in euro

Example only. Not an official salary.

The tax that never hits your payslip
Item	Amount
This amount	—
Hidden tax since 2015 (HICP)	—
What it still buys in 2015 euros	—

Eurostat HICP snapshot, as of July 2026 (not a live feed). 2026 is the year-to-date average of published months. Belgium, not euro-area. Methodology.

Why this matters in Belgium

High-debt euro member, no national-currency buffer

Belgium recorded the fourth-highest Maastricht debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU in Q1 2026: 109.1% (€706,581 million, Eurostat), after Greece (143.5%), Italy (138.9%) and France (117.5%). It still uses the euro. There is no national-currency buffer. Monetary policy is set by the ECB in Frankfurt. Belgian citizens fully import whatever monetary expansion (or contraction) the euro area decides on.

The ratio is still rising

The ratio is still rising: +3.1 percentage points versus 2025Q1 and +1.3 percentage points versus 2025Q4 (Eurostat). That is a fiscal fact. It is not a shield for the currency. Euros in Belgian shops still buy less than in 2015 because more euros exist.

The same hidden tax

Whether the new money is created to buy government bonds, fund energy subsidies or defence spending, the effect on Belgian wages and savings is the same: existing euros buy less over time. Wage earners and savers pay the price.

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