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The food sector in Brussels: early post-COVID trends

Whilst the service sector is the primary driving force behind the Brussels’ economy, the food sector is playing an increasingly important role here.  An analysis of the data at national and regional level sheds light on the sector’s situation in 2023.

Discover the key figures and trends currently shaping the food and drink sector in the Brussels-Capital Region.

The food sector is a major player in Belgium

At Belgian level, the agri-food sector is regarded as a heavyweight within the industrial sector for a number of reasons:

  • The sector accounted for 14.7% of value added in the manufacturing industry, second only to pharmaceuticals and chemical products in 2021.
  • Its turnover reached €75.6 billion in 2022, making it the leading manufacturing industry.
  • The same applies to employment: in 2021, the sector provided jobs for 98,000 people.

Growing number of business creations: a trend to be confirmed

In the Brussels Region, the figures are slightly lower, but certainly not to be underestimated. Industry as a whole (including tobacco) accounted for nearly 20% of the added value of the manufacturing sector in 2020, amounting to €421 million. In terms of turnover, this stood at €1.7 billion in 2022 for the food industry alone (excluding the ‘beverage industry’ sector), which corresponds to 2.6% of the manufacturing industry’s turnover.

  • The number of businesses with their headquarters in Brussels has increased, reaching 639 in 2021. This represents a 7% increase since 2017. This increase was particularly marked in 2021, rising by 6.7%.
  • The number of employees rose slightly in 2021, reaching a total of 4,493. Unlike Flanders (+9.2%) and Wallonia (+8.5%), which saw the number of salaried workers rise over the four-year period, Brussels nevertheless recorded a 5.1% fall in the number of employees between 2017 and 2021.
  • The number of business creations is on an upward trend (with the exception of 2020), whilst the number of annual closures is highly volatile but does not show a clear upward trend.

95% of the Region’s exports go to the European Union

The European Union (EU) remains the main market for Brussels’ food and drink industry. In 2021, total exports from the Brussels Region’s agri-food industry amounted to €494.6 million, of which 95% went to EU countries and 5% to countries outside the EU. In the same year, the Region’s imports totalled €1.1 billion, of which 97% came from the EU and 3% from outside the EU.

The volume of exports from Brussels has fallen over the last five years (-35.9%). This is mainly due to a fall in exports between 2017 and 2021 across these various sub-categories of the sector:

  • A 97.8% decrease for dairy products;
  • A 30.9% reduction for cocoa and cocoa preparations;
  • And finally, a 17.8% fall in cereal products, milk and baked goods.

Conversely, some categories saw sharp increases during this period:

  • Cereals, where an increase of 15,709% was observed;
  • Products of the milling industry, malt, starches, inulin and wheat gluten saw a significant increase of 398%;
  • Beverages, spirits and vinegar also showed an upward trend, with an increase of almost 50%.

Neighbouring countries have always played an important role in the sector’s exports, as shown by the top five countries listed below. When it comes to imports, the top three countries are the same.

  1. The Netherlands (€194.7 million), with a share of 39.4%
  2. France (€105.9 million), or a share of 21.4%
  3. Germany (€64.2 million), accounting for a 13% share
  4. Luxembourg (€54.2 million), accounting for 11%
  5. Spain (€14.8 million), or 3%

Full report available in French.

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