Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Belgium instead of Ireland, you would:
Health
be 12.6% less likely to be obese
In Ireland, 25.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Belgium, that number is 22.1% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 52.6% less money
Ireland has a GDP per capita of $112,400 as of 2022, while in Belgium, the GDP per capita is $53,300 as of 2022.
be 24.1% more likely to be unemployed
In Ireland, 4.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Belgium, that number is 5.6% as of 2022.
pay a 11.9% higher top tax rate
Ireland has a top tax rate of 48.0% as of 2016. In Belgium, the top tax rate is 53.7% as of 2016.
Expenditures
spend 2.2 times more on education
Ireland spends 3.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Belgium spends 6.7% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
spend 56.3% more on healthcare
Ireland spends 7.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Belgium, that number is 11.1% of GDP as of 2020.
Geography
see 95.4% less coastline
Ireland has a total of 1,448 km of coastline. In Belgium, that number is 66 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: Service Public Fédéral Finances, The World Factbook, The Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
Belgium: At a glance
How big is Belgium compared to Ireland? See an in-depth size comparison.