Belgium, European country whose industrial production is experiencing the worst development
According to the latest release of Eurostat figures, Belgium is the European country whose industrial production is experiencing the worst development, relative to L’Echo and De Tijd on Thursday.
Between August 2021 and August 2022, Belgian industrial production thus posted a decline of 10.3%. On average, in the euro area, it increased by 2.5%, while on all 27, it climbed 3.5%. Between July and August alone, Belgian industrial production plunged by 6.1%.
On an annual basis, Germany (+2.4%), France (+0.8%) and the Netherlands (+1.6%), the three reference countries for calculating the competitiveness of Belgian companies, do much better.
This at consequences on employment. According to figures from Onem, in September, out of 10,684 people registered under the temporary energy unemployment scheme, more than 9,100 were from industry.
The sectors of metallurgy (2,852 people), textiles (1,674) and rubber and plastics (1,188) are particularly affected.
Industrial basins are logically the most affectedwith West Flanders (3,001 people) in the lead, followed by Limburg (2,526), Hainaut (1,679) and Liège (1,169), Antwerp seeming more spared so far (377).