The number of young people with a migration background has doubled in twenty years

In two decades, the number of inhabitants with a migration background in Belgium has increased from more than two to more than four million. In the same period, the number of Belgians without a migration background fell by 670,000. For example, the share of residents with a migration background has increased throughout the country from one in seven in 2003 to one in three in 2023. This is evident from figures from Statbel.

The group of people with a migration background is becoming increasingly diverse, and does not only include migrants. In addition to non-Belgians and people who have become Belgian, people who have at least one parent of foreign origin are also included. The children of a Belgian-Dutch couple also belong to that group. Belgians with only grandparents of foreign origin are not included. People without papers are also not included in the figures.

“There is some discussion about those figures, but ultimately it is the best way to divide a population according to origin,” says professor of sociology Dirk Geldof (UAntwerp, Odisee).

The figures show that 20 percent of the group with a migration background comes from neighboring countries. Another 27 percent come from another EU country, 53 percent from outside the EU.

The figures show that Belgium has become much more diverse in twenty years. This evolution will continue in the coming decades. After all, the younger generation is much more diverse than the older one. Among people over 65, one in seven has a migration background. This is almost one in two among children and young people.

“Anyone who sits at school today will be at the school gate as a parent within ten to twenty years,” says Geldof. “While it is mainly older Belgians who will die in the next twenty years.”

In the political discussion about diversity, the main emphasis is on immigration. Belgium has had more immigrants than emigrants every year since 1988. “But demographic evolution is an underestimated driver of diversity,” says Geldof. “Even if we build a wall around Belgium, diversity would increase further.”

From Koekelare to Sint-Joost

The increase varies greatly from place to place. In Koekelare, barely 5 percent of the population has a migration background. One hundred kilometers away, in Sint-Joost-ten-Noode, barely 9 percent have no migration background.

The most diverse municipalities are located in Brussels and its outskirts, the mining region in Limburg and the larger cities such as Antwerp or Ghent. The largest increase took place in and around Brussels, but also in the Denderstreek, Antwerp, Boom, Turnhout and Sint-Niklaas. Every municipality is evolving in the same direction. Everywhere there is greater diversity among young people than among the rest of the population.

“You cannot ignore it: diversity has become a basic feature of our society,” says Geldof. “Superdiversity is becoming increasingly common. There is a process of normalization, and that provokes a counter-reaction, which also includes racism. Compare it with gay marriage: not everyone agrees with it, but it has become more common.”

This requires an adjustment in mentality throughout society, says Geldof. “Take the workplace, education or the neighborhood: everyone will more often meet people with a different ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious background. The time when one approach worked for everyone is over.”