Flemish Brabant is growing due to migration from Brussels
Flemish Brabant is the fastest shattered and youngest Flemish province. The population is growing by an average of 6,614 additional inhabitants per year. This growth is caused by migration from Brussels. And those are mainly young families. This immediately explains the average young age of the province. These migrations lead to an increasing diversity of the population. And also a diverse picture of our province: a densely populated Vlaamse Rand and capital Leuven and a much lower population density in the rest of the province; many large and young families in the Rand and many more older residents and family thinning in the Pajottenland and the Hageland. This is all evident from the new study ‘Population in Flemish Brabant. About growth and migration’ of the province of Flemish Brabant.
“Our fast-growing population proves that many people see Flemish Brabant as an attractive place to live. Our fairly young and diverse population probably contributes to the dynamic region that is Flemish Brabant. Where we combine quality of life with a very central location in the heart of Europe, a beautiful heritage with rapid innovation, lively cities and villages with vast landscapes. A real crossroads of many worlds”, says Tom Dehaene, deputy for Data & Analysis.
Deputy Tom Dehaene handed over the first copy of the new study to Alderman Jan De Backer van Asse.
“As a municipality in the Vlaamse Rand, Asse is strongly confused with the challenges that rapid population growth and relocation movements from Brussels entail,” says Jan De Backer, alderman for civil affairs in Asse. “We look and look for creative solutions to guide coexistence in Asse. For example, we provide interpreters to make the services at the municipal counters run more smoothly.”
The main conclusions from the study are:
Flemish Brabant is the fastest growing Flemish province and also the youngest
The population of Flemish Brabant has been growing since 1990 by an average of 6,614 extra inhabitants per year. The largest growth was recorded last year, with 11,151 persons.
Population growth per 1,000 inhabitants in Flemish Brabant 1990-2021
This has to do with the proximity of Brussels: the province is growing mainly due to migration from Brussels (and the growth is therefore particularly pronounced in the periphery around Brussels), and these are mainly young families. This immediately explains the average young age of the province.
Conversely, migration from abroad is relatively small compared to the Flemish Region. This also has to do with the proximity of Brussels: a lot of foreign migration in the region is accommodated by the Brussels-Capital Region.
The migration flows to/from Flemish Brabant in the last five years
Flemish Brabant therefore grows mainly through migration from Brussels, and loses its population to the other Flemish provinces and to the Walloon Region
The migration balance with Brussels grew every year and reached a record last year with 11,088 people in one year. A migration balance gives the net growth: 19,923 people actually came from the Brussels Region, but 8,835 people moved in the opposite direction.
Leuven is losing the population on the Leuven outskirts, but is growing due to migration from abroad.
Leuven knows the most foreign immigration in Flemish Brabant. Conversely, many young families move to the Leuven periphery (comparable to Brussels and the periphery), but the population of Leuven is still growing due to foreign migration.
Flemish Brabant is experiencing increasing diversity
More than three-quarters of Brussels residents have a non-Belgian origin, so the majority of migrants from Brussels do as well (though less than their share of the population). This also leads to increasing diversity. In Leuven, diversity is growing mainly due to migration from abroad.
There is family thinning in Flemish Brabant, but this is less rapid than in the Flemish Region
Family dilution This can be explained by changed cohabitation patterns (for example, more people living alone in the active population), but also by ageing: seriously, there are more one and two-person households. The less rapid family thinning in Flemish Brabant is also related to the presence of Brussels: due to the migration of young families to the outskirts, the average family size is increasing and sometimes even larger. The reverse is the case in Pajottenland and Hageland, where the average average is also much older.
Movers are rarely young; People over 55 do not move often.
It is mainly young people who move: young people often leave for the city (Brussels, Leuven) and often move again (to the outskirts) when they start a family. People over 55 migrate the least: 13% of migrants are 55 years or more, while they own 33% of the population.
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