Educated, productive and multilingual

The workforce in Flanders is among the world's most highly educated and productive as well as having a high level of language skills.

Educated: Flemish students benefit from a lower pupil to teacher ratio than most other countries and some 38% of people aged 25 to 34 have continued their education at a university or other higher education establishment. Fifteen-year-olds in Flanders are the world's best in mathematics according to the OECD's PISA survey, fifth at sciences and also score highly in problem-solving.

A Quality Education System

The education system in Flanders has an excellent reputation, with per capita spending among the top 5 in Europe and considerably above the European Union average. The school leaving age is 18, and 31% of people aged 25 to 34 have continued their education at a university or other higher education establishment. (Eurostat, 2006) In addition, Belgian students benefit from a lower pupil to teacher ratio than most other countries.

Mathematics and sciences

Fifteen-year-olds in Flanders are the world's best in mathematics according to the OECD's PISA survey of learning across 57 countries. The study, published in December 2007, showed that Flemish 15-year-olds achieved an overall average score of 543 in the mathematics survey, which placed them in the top group.
In sciences, the Flemish were ranked eigth with an average score of 529, with Finland as the only European country beating them.

Meeting needs of the economy

A survey published in the Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2007-2008 also showed that on the whole Belgians believe their education system meets the needs of a competitive economy.

Productive: The Belgian and Flemish workforce has been among the world's most productive for more than a decade. In GDP per hour worked, the country scores 109 with the US as base at 100 while the G7 average is 90.

A Leader in Productivity

The Belgian workforce has been among the world's leaders in productivity for more than a decade. The OECD's report "Estimates of Labor Productivity for 2005", published in September 2006, underlines the fact that this trend is a continuing one, with Belgium out-performing the USA and virtually all other European economies in GDP per hour worked. The survey, with US productivity as the base at 100, set Belgian productivity at 109 in GDP per hour worked (or $52,9 GDP per hour worked). Other European countries above the base are amongst others France at 101, Ireland at 104 and the Netherlands at 104. The OECD average was 75, the Eurozone average 87 and the North American average 83.

The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007 places Belgium above the USA, France, Japan, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany on GDP per person employed

Multilingual: Living right at the point where Europe's three major cultural and language groups meet has brought the Flemish people skills in a range of languages. Many speak up to four languages fluently and these include English.

A Multilingual Population

The Flemish people are among Europe's most multilingual, an important aspect of doing business in today's international economy. The region's location at the meeting point of Europe's three major cultures and language groups - Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Latin - has meant that the Flemish people have had to accommodate additional languages for centuries. In addition, Belgium itself has three official languages (Flemish, French and German) with English rating as a "virtual" fourth.

An OECD survey published in the mid-1990s showed that 90% of Flemish people speak one foreign language, 80% speak two and 55% speak three - in addition to their own. Flanders also scores highly in TOEFL tests with notably better results than countries such as Japan, the USA, the UK, Germany and France. Eurostat figures show that young Belgians learned an average of 1,7 foreign languages while at secondary school (Eurostat, 2006).

Loyal: The Flemish workforce has one of the world's highest loyalty to employer rates in terms of years of service.

Loyal Employees

Belgian workers are loyal to their employers with one of the world's highest number of years in a business relationship. An International Labor Organization survey published in 2001 showed the Belgian loyalty rate to be 11.3 years, the same as the rate recorded for Japan.