That dollar amount results from a 3.5% increase compared to $549.5 billion five years earlier in 2021.
Year over year, the overall value of Belgian exports grew by 3.5% from $549.6 billion during 2024.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2025, Belgium uses the euro which strengthened via a 4.4% gain against the US dollar from 2024 to 2025. The stronger European Union currency made Belgium’s exports paid for in weaker US dollars more expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.
Belgium’s Main Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 74.9% of products exported from Belgium was bought by importers in: Germany (19% of the Belgian total), France (13%), Netherlands (12.9%), United States of America (6.3%), United Kingdom (5.5%), Italy (5.1%), Spain (3.8%), Poland (3%), Sweden (1.9%), mainland China (1.6%), Luxembourg (1.4%) and Switzerland (1.3%).
From a continental perspective, 78.2% of Belgium’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 9.5% was sold to importers in Asia.
Belgium shipped another 7.6% worth of goods to North America.
Smaller percentages went to Africa (2.7%), Latin America (1.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.5%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Not only is it located in the heart of Europe, Belgium is also a founding member of the European Union. EU members paid for 69.7% of total Belgian export sales in 2025. That percentage eclipses the 63.9% for the prior year.
Given Belgium’s population of 11.9 million people, its total US$568.7 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $48,000 for every resident in the west European country. That dollar metric surpasses the average $32,000 per capita one year earlier in 2024.
Belgium’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Belgian global shipments during 2025. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Belgium.
- Pharmaceuticals: US$80.8 billion (14.2% of total exports)
- Vehicles: $64.5 billion (11.3%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $54.3 billion (9.6%)
- Machinery including computers: $40.9 billion (7.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $32.8 billion (5.8%)
- Organic chemicals: $23.1 billion (4.1%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $23 billion (4%)
- Iron, steel: $19.6 billion (3.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $17.4 billion (3.1%)
- Other chemical goods: $15.3 billion (2.7%)
Belgium’s top 10 export product categories generated almost two-thirds (65.4%) of the overall value of Belgian shipments.
Machinery including computers represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 11.9% from 2024 to 2025.
In second place for improving export sales was optical, technical and medical apparatus via a 11.8% advance.
Belgium’s shipments of miscellaneous chemical goods posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 8%.
The leading decliner among Belgium’s top 10 export categories was the mineral fuels including oil grouping, pulled down by an -11.4% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level, Belgium’s most valuable exported products were cars (7.8% of total Belgian exports), medication mixes in dosage (6.8%), blood fractions including antisera (6.7%), processed petroleum oils (5.8%), petroleum gases (2.5%), electro-medical equipment (1.3%), automobile parts or accessories (1.24%), chocolate and other cocoa preparations (1.18%), ethylene polymers (1.05%) then unmounted and unset diamonds (1.02%).
Products Generating Greatest Trade Surpluses for Belgium
Belgium recorded an overall US$29.5 billion trade surplus for 2025, shrinking by -3.2% from $30.5 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2024.
The following types of Belgian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Plastics, plastic articles: US$12.2 billion (Down by -3.7% since 2023)
- Pharmaceuticals: $10.2 billion (Down by -45.1%)
- Iron, steel: $5.9 billion (Up by 2%)
- Gems, precious metals: $3.94 billion (Up by 77.1%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $3.90 billion (Down by -10.9%)
- Footwear: $3.4 billion (Down by -7%)
- Other chemical goods: $3.2 billion (Up by 20.8%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $2.9 billion (Up by 8.3%)
- Vehicles: $2.6 billion (Reversing a -$2.7 billion deficit)
- Meat: $2.2 billion (Up by 0.7%)
Belgium has highly positive net exports in the international trade of plastics (both as materials and items made from plastic) and pharmaceutical products in 2025. In turn, these cashflows indicate Belgium’s strong competitive advantages under the related product categories.
Products Causing Worst Trade Deficits for Belgium
Below are exports from Belgium that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Belgium’s goods trail Belgian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$19.2 billion (Up by 1.6% since 2024)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$9.3 billion (Up by 10.4%)
- Ores, slag, ash: -$2.9 billion (Up by 47.7%)
- Cereals: -$1.8 billion (Down by -4.4%)
- Organic chemicals: -$1.51 billion (Down by -3.8%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: -$1.46 billion (Up by 1.4%)
- Oil seeds: -$1.3 billion (Up by 3.4%)
- Copper: -$1.2 billion (Up by 196.8%)
- Fish: -$920.6 million (Up by 5.1%)
- Paper, paper items: -$855.3 million (Up by 19.5%)
Belgium has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for mineral fuels-related products historically crude oil, petroleum gases and electricity.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Belgium’s competitive disadvantages in the international energy market but also represent key opportunities for Belgium to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations.
Belgian Export Companies
Belgium placed 11 corporations among the Forbes Global 2000. Below is a sample of major Belgian export companies that Forbes ranked.
- Anheuser-Busch InBev (beverages)
- Belgacom (telecommunications services)
- Delhaize Group (food retail)
- Solvay (diversified chemicals)
- UCB (pharmaceuticals)
- Umicore (diversified metals, mining)
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following smaller companies are also examples of Belgian export companies.
- BBL Shipping Belgium (mechanical shovels, excavators, shovel loaders)
- DHL Danzas Air Ocean Belgium (rubber/plastic molds, plastic boxes/cases, mechanical shovels)
- Fiat Services Sadi Belgium (automobiles)
- TPSA Co Tupperware Belgium (rubber/plastic molds, plastic boxes/cases/crates)
In macroeconomic terms, Belgium’s total exported goods represent 63.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($899.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 63.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 43.7% for 2024 Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Belgium’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Belgium’s export metrics include a significant amount of re-exporting activity.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Belgium’s unemployment rate averaged 5.9% in 2025, up from an average 5.7% for 2024 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Belgium’s capital city is Brussels.
See also Belgium’s Top 10 Imports, Belgium’s Top Trading Partners, Germany’s Top Trading Partners and France’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on May 1, 2026
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 1, 2026
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 1, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 1, 2026
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 1, 2026
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 1, 2026
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Belgium. Accessed on May 1, 2026
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 1, 2026
X-rates.com, Exchange Rates: Euro to US Dollar (monthly average 2025). Accessed on May 1, 2026
Zepol’s company summary highlights by country. Accessed on May 1, 2026