Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Ireland instead of Belgium, you would:
Health
be 14.5% more likely to be obese
In Belgium, 22.1% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Ireland, that number is 25.3% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 86.1% more money
Belgium has a GDP per capita of $48,200 as of 2020, while in Ireland, the GDP per capita is $89,700 as of 2020.
be 11.5% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Belgium, 14.8% live below the poverty line as of 2018. In Ireland, however, that number is 13.1% as of 2018.
pay a 10.6% lower top tax rate
Belgium has a top tax rate of 53.7% as of 2016. In Ireland, the top tax rate is 48.0% as of 2016.
Life
have 12.5% more children
In Belgium, there are approximately 10.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Ireland, there are 12.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 46.9% less on education
Belgium spends 6.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2018. Ireland spends 3.4% of total GDP on education as of 2018.
spend 37.4% less on healthcare
Belgium spends 10.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Ireland, that number is 6.7% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 21.8 times more coastline
Belgium has a total of 66 km of coastline. In Ireland, that number is 1,448 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: Service Public Fédéral Finances, The World Factbook, The Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
Ireland: At a glance
How big is Ireland compared to Belgium? See an in-depth size comparison.