Wondering if living in Belgium is a good idea? Don't assume that an absence of meters means you can leave your car there: You may need to get a timed ticket from a nearby pay-and-display machine, or display a parking-clock disc that allows you to use free, time-limited spots. of boneless chicken breast, 0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket, Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in expensive area, Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in normal area, Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ) for 2 people in 85m2 flat, Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in expensive area, Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in normal area, Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ) for 1 person in 45 m2 (480 sqft) studio, Microwave 800/900 watt (bosch, panasonic, lg, sharp, or equivalent brands), 1 summer dress in a high street store (zara, h&m or similar retailers), 1 pair of sport shoes (nike, adidas, or equivalent brands), Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new, Cold medicine for 6 days (tylenol, frenadol, coldrex, or equivalent brands), Short visit to private doctor (15 minutes), Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city, Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub, 2 tickets to the theater (best available seats), Dinner for two at an italian restaurant in the expat area including appetisers, main course, wine and dessert, 1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt. Thank you! Luckily both cities have a pretty good public transport system, where you can reach most places around the city centre through underground metro or tram lines. The other super-sized feature, though, is its price tag it costs $62,490. Distances are short, petite cars get great mileage, and, when compared to costly train tickets (for the price of a two-hour train ride, you can fill your tank), expensive gas is less of a factor. Figures were rounded. Whats the worst that can happen, right? Brussels. Find out what is the real equivalent in Belgium of your current salary and improve your chances of a happy relocation. Hosted by Katrin Bennhold. June 30, 2023, 6:00 a.m. France rocked by third night of violence as unrest spreads into Belgium (Picture: Reuters) Emmanuel Macron has The tuition fees in Belgium are lower, even for non-EU students. If you are an admin, please authenticate by logging in again. in other words, some analysis of the figures. The exact cost in the Netherlands is more complicated because they have differences between privet and public education, a partial pay-back depending on what you study and what degree you had before you started studying that, degrees with In fact, you can reach Amsterdam and Paris in a mere 1 and a half hours by train from Brussels! For the past 8 weeks, I have been amazed while food shopping in SW Europe, including France, Spain, and Portugal. How I miss the European way of lifestyle eating fresh healthy, the diversity and varieties of fresh produce, breads, cheeses and lunch meats. Support systems can always be strengthen but the social burden you describe is made up of all types of people, let's not single out the migrants when actually is a small percentage. Show publisher information You should just check out some prices on kruidvat.be and compare them to kruidvat.nl (or hema, ah, ikea, jysk and so on, even identical items on The average price of 1 gigabyte (gb) of mobile data in Belgium last year was 3.00 13 times more expensive than in France (0.23), according to a study published by document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Steven Masley MD, LLC There are a lot of organic food options, but these are expensive. These prices were last updated on June 27, 2023. I spend my winters in Florida. And chances are youll often get rejected just for this reason. Directly-paid benefits comprise pay for leave time, bonuses, and pay in kind. There are enough companies that are ready to go the extra mile to find the right candidate. Perhaps it would make more sense if I lived in central London and housing was taken in to account, but the idea that the UK is more expensive to live in than Belgium is simply not born out by my personal experience. Youll be surprised to know that the EU capital is actually one of the cheaper places to rent. Belgium ranked 31st vs 53rd for South Korea in the list of the most expensive countries in the world. 186% more expensive than Mumbai; 34% cheaper than New York; 13% cheaper than Sydney; 96% more expensive than Lagos; Cost of living in Marseille. He told me they start picking the strawberries at 5:00 am, in other words they pick them in the dark. The cost of fuel in Europe (about $7 a gallon) sounds worse than it is. If youre into sports, you can expect to pay 2080 for a gym membership, depending on which facilities you want to use and when. Please reach out to content@housinganywhere.com if you have any suggestions or inquiries about the content on this page. More than 800 people were arrested last night Shops were looted and thousands of vehicles were set ablaze in cities and towns across France despite 40,000 officers being So glad you are writing about this. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 1000+ markets in 190+ countries & territories, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 70m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. The difference in price levels between Excellent article. You only have access to basic statistics. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. We recognized many farms market with farm fed family living . WebEurostar trains across the English Channel between London and France (Paris, Lille, and Disneyland) accept Eurail Global Passes, but not the France Eurail Pass. Its also becoming more common to work flexi-hours when you choose yourself when you perform your work! I bought some veg and then went out and about sightseeing for a couple of weeks and then came back to base and the veg I bought had not rotted at all. Night trains within France are now rare. Belgians can converse in English pretty well. Those same Maine blueberries in Florida I had to pay over $12.00 for 3 lbs. As an English-speaking expat, you dont have much to fear when moving to Belgium. However, if you dont have a job in your pocket yet, its better you learn at least one of the official languages to increase your chances. In Belgium a trolley full of groceries costs on average 13.4% more than in Germany, 12.9% more than in The Netherlands and 9.1% more than in France. Check our rental index by city for an overview of rental prices in Europe. Eating healthy is much cheaper in Europe and you buy mostly fresh for your daily needs. thank you for all your tips . Netherlands, France and Germany are all within arms reach. If broccoli is on sale they need enough to last a week for all the stores they own, only large factory farms can produce it. Belgium ranked 31st vs 53rd for South Korea in the list of the most expensive countries in the world. I am headed back next spring/summer to search for more regional Mediterranean recipes, planning on writing a Mediterranean cookbook down the road. Your email address will not be published. Paris. Once you weigh the pros and cons of living in Belgium, you can confidently decide whether moving there is for you! Belgium indeed! Belgium. Poultry has been 30-50 percent less costly, and seafood is extremely fresh, with much local variety, far better quality, and 50-75 percent less expensive. Belgians tend to be reserved and closed off at first. Quality of Life; Cost of Living. People prefer spending their money on cars, holiday trips, clothing etc. Our friends were so well balanced with small portions on there plates . Your other points, raise valid issues as Belgium has a small market that it over regulates and pushes a lot of things into the black. Crowdsourced data is a vital part of the Internet, help us become better! I have witnessed in Italy what you describe seeing during your trip to SW Europe. Here's the US vs EU price comparison table. In most cases, you can book your appointment with a specialist directly and around 75% of your costs will be reimbursed. We also have on this page a list of all the cities available in Expatistan: List of all the cities available in Expatistan. In Europe, regular gas is marked "95" while super or premium gasoline is usually designated "97" or "98." There is much we can learn from them. Be aware that in some countries there's no size or color difference between the nozzles for diesel and gasoline, so make sure you're not putting the wrong fuel in your car. I asked a vendor one day at a flea market why his strawberries are all white. Web59%. countries in Western Europe such as for example France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, and The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Australia compared to 1.7 months in France. Diff. What steps could we take to reduce our food expense and quality: Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FACN, FAAFP, CNS, Send them this link:www.drmasley.com/blog, Nice article. Required fields are marked *. More than 800 people were arrested last night Shops were looted and thousands of vehicles were set ablaze in cities and towns across France despite 40,000 officers being mobilised to keep the peace Pumping gas in Europe is easy; the English word "self-service" is universal. Thank you, from Switzerland Be//a. Use Ask Statista Research Service. Full prices for more than 50 products in both countries. We are so used to eating tasteless food in this country that many people dont know what real food tastes like. 17.3M. Pay extra attention in Spain, where gasoline is gasolina and diesel is sometimes called gasleo. We calculate prices for Belgium and France as a population-weighted mean of 91 and 151 cities, respectively. They start with different variations, followed by six more digits. I have been buying broccoli for years and I can tell you the quality is going down every year because we have farmers that plant only broccoli year after year. The Power of Agility in a Changing World. There is enough time to unwind too. ET. Marseille is an Wednesday, 7 September 2022 By Math Chini Credit: Belga/Charlotte Gekiere From beer and butter to spaghetti and cheese, filling up a shopping cart in Belgium has In the US, the government subsidizes mostly big farm production, for sugar, wheat, flour, corn, dairy and soybeans, with limited if any support for seafood, organic animal products, or fresh produce. 2.17M. Yukon Gold potatoes were so good they didnt need butter. The color of each marker corresponds with the cost of living in the city red markers show more expensive cities green ones show cheaper cities Euro-area inflation number will be released later on Your email address will not be published. Thank you for this article Dr Masley. Years ago we did not know what the store would have on hand till we got there but it was fresh and looked 300% better than what we buy today, and it probably had 1000% more nutients. You'll be impressed by how few miles you need to travel to enjoy Europe's diversity. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule, but hopefully it helps give you some direction. 19. List of all the cities available in Expatistan, Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district, Combo meal in fast food restaurant (big mac meal or similar), 500 gr (1 lb.) Plus, unlike in most European countries, you dont always have to go through lengthy processes at your GP. On a positive note, lower rent prices and affordable public transportation subscriptions make up for the high food costs. In 2022, the highest price level for consumer goods and services among the EU Member States was observed in Ireland (46 % above the EU average) and the lowest Coastal towns in France are also quite expensive, particularly during the peak summer months. Living in Belgium, youll have the chance to explore the rest of Europe with ease. The difference is even greater when it comes to English-speaking countries like the UK, US and Canada. Luckily, the winters are pretty mild and if you arm yourself with a good weather app, youll get used to it in no time. Paying, however, may be more complicated observe other customers and follow suit. the estimated difference in money purchasing power, the most expensive countries in the world. d. Chile collects $10,805,998,234 and Belgium are economically interdependent. Here youll indeed get world-class beer, fluffy Belgian waffles, crispy fries, and of course, amazing chocolate thats on par with Swiss brands. So best case scenario a 1800 education. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. ", GPP, Household electricity prices worldwide in September 2022, by select country (in U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/ (last visited July 01, 2023), Household electricity prices worldwide in September 2022, by select country (in U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour) [Graph], GPP, June 12, 2023.