Belgium’s gross domestic product advanced 1.2 percent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2018, below a 1.6 percent growth in the previous period, preliminary estimates showed. It was the weakest pace of expansion since the fourth quarter of 2013, mainly due to a fall in government spending (-0.2 percent from 0.1 percent in Q3). In addition, private consumption dropped further (-0.3 percent from -0.2 percent) while total gross fixed capital formation rebounded (2.3 percent from -0.1 percent). Meanwhile, net foreign demand contributed negatively to growth, as exports went up 0.8 percent (from 1.4 percent in Q3) while imports increased at a faster 1.1 percent (the same as in Q3). Considering 2018, the economy grew by 1.4 percent, following a 1.7 percent expansion in 2017. GDP Growth Rate in Belgium averaged 0.54 percent from 1980 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 15.80 percent in the first quarter of 1995 and a record low of -2.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
GDP Growth Rate in Belgium is expected to be 0.40 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Growth Rate in Belgium to stand at 0.30 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Belgium GDP Growth Rate is projected to trend around 0.40 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.