More people moving from Wallonia to Flanders than vice versa

More and more residents of Brussels and Wallonia are settling in Flanders, while the number of Flemings moving to the other side of Belgium's language border is on the decline, according to CIB Flanders, the Flemish association of real estate agents, writes Het Laatste Nieuws.

The analysis - based on figures from the FPS Interior - shows that 6,758 Flemings last year moved to Wallonia, while 7,463 Walloons moved to Flanders. "In 2015 for the first time, more residents left Wallonia for Flanders than vice versa," says CIB Flanders.

The figures also reveal a sharp increase in the number of people moving from Brussels to Flanders in 2015: about 18,500 Brussels residents moved to the Flemish periphery around Brussels, but also the Belgian coast and several larger cities like Ghent, Antwerp, Mechelen and Aalst. It is the highest figure since 2010.

The number of Flemings heading to Wallonia and Brussels has been on the decline for several years, according to Kristophe Thijs of CIB Flanders. "The prices, especially in the Walloon outskirts of Brussels, are less interesting," he explains. “Ten years ago, for example, land in Wallonia was dirt cheap compared to Flanders, but now the difference is much smaller.”

Despite the still higher real estate prices in Flanders, Walloon and Brussels residents continue to move to the region for socio-economic and mobility reasons, but also for better tax benefits.