Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Italy instead of Belgium, you would:

Economy

make 16.9% less money

Belgium has a GDP per capita of $53,300 as of 2022, while in Italy, the GDP per capita is $44,300 as of 2022.

be 45.1% more likely to be unemployed

In Belgium, 5.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Italy, that number is 8.1% as of 2022.

be 52.3% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Belgium, 13.2% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Italy, however, that number is 20.1% as of 2021.

Life

have 34.3% fewer children

In Belgium, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Italy, there are 7.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 17.6% less likely to have internet access

In Belgium, approximately 91.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Italy, about 75.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 35.8% less on education

Belgium spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Italy spends 4.3% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 13.5% less on healthcare

Belgium spends 11.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Italy, that number is 9.6% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 114.3 times more coastline

Belgium has a total of 66 km of coastline. In Italy, that number is 7,600 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Italy: At a glance

Italy is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 294,140 sq km. Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy is a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include sluggish economic growth, high youth and female unemployment, organized crime, corruption, and economic disparities between southern Italy and the more prosperous north.
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How big is Italy compared to Belgium? See an in-depth size comparison.

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