# Belgium and France compared Belgium and France side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 6 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bel-vs-fra Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Belgium: 4 October 1830 — Belgium declares independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands - France: 10 August 843 — The Treaty of Verdun gives Charles the Bald West Francia ## Economy | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $671 B | 2024 | $3.16 T | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $56,615 | 2024 | $46,103 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 1.1% | 2024 | 1.2% | 2024 | | Inflation | 3.1% | 2024 | 2.0% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 158.9% | 2024 | 68.1% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 12 m | 2024 | 69 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 82.3 yrs | 2024 | 83.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 87.6% | 2024 | 78.8% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.4 | 2024 | 1.6 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 83.1 | 2024 | 77.0 | 2024 | | Political stability | 68.0 | 2024 | 61.8 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 74.6 | 2024 | 74.7 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 74.5 | 2024 | 72.9 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 79.0 | 2024 | 73.8 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 77.6 | 2024 | 72.5 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 10.8% | 2023 | 11.5% | 2024 | | Physicians | 3.57 | 2022 | 3.28 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 3.7 | 2024 | 4.3 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 96.0% | 2024 | 95.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 99.5% | 2024 | 99.7% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Education spending | 6.3% | 2022 | 5.3% | 2022 | | Primary enrolment | 102.1% | 2023 | 103.4% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 143.0% | 2023 | 103.8% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 82.1% | 2023 | 71.5% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 3.3% | 2023 | 2.2% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 5,990 | 2023 | 5,369 | 2023 | | Internet users | 95.8% | 2024 | 88.7% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 104 | 2024 | 117 | 2023 | | High-tech exports | 20.4% | 2024 | 23.1% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 30,494 km² | 2023 | 538,950 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 22.6% | 2023 | 32.5% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 44.4% | 2023 | 52.5% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 7.3 | 2024 | 4.0 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 11.7% | 2021 | 16.2% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Belgium | Observed | France | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.3% | 2024 | 2.1% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $8.6 B | 2024 | $65 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 24,000 | 2020 | 304,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BEL.md and https://terralore.co/country/FRA.md. ## Entangled histories (6 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 11 Jul 1302: **Battle of the Golden Spurs** — A Flemish town militia, mostly craft guildsmen, destroyed a French army of knights near Courtrai, collecting the golden spurs of the slain nobles and asserting the independence of the Flemish towns. (from the Belgium chronicle; sources: Battle of the Golden Spurs; Belgium: History) - 1795: **French annexation of the southern Netherlands** — Revolutionary France annexed the Austrian Netherlands and the prince-bishopric of Liège, ending Habsburg rule and governing the region directly from Paris for twenty years. (from the Belgium chronicle; sources: Belgium: History) - 1815: **Union with the Netherlands** — After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo on Belgian soil, the Congress of Vienna merged the southern provinces with the Dutch into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands under William I, as a buffer against France. (from the Belgium chronicle; sources: Belgium: History; The Treaty of London, 1839 (primary text)) - 19 Apr 1839: **Treaty of London guarantees Belgian neutrality** — Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, Russia and the Netherlands recognised Belgium as an independent and perpetually neutral state and guaranteed its neutrality, the treaty later cited by Britain to enter the First World War. (from the Belgium chronicle; sources: The Treaty of London, 1839 (primary text); Belgium: History) - 10 May 1940: **Second German invasion** — Germany again invaded neutral Belgium on 10 May 1940, this time thrusting through the Ardennes, and rapidly overwhelmed the defending Belgian, French and British forces. (from the Belgium chronicle; sources: German Invasion of Western Europe, May 1940; Belgium: History) - 1962–1963: **The linguistic frontier fixed** — Language laws drew a fixed border between Dutch-, French- and German-speaking areas and created four language regions, entrenching the divide between Belgium's communities. (from the Belgium chronicle; sources: Belgium: History) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BEL/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/FRA/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Belgium and France compared", terralore.co/compare/bel-vs-fra, retrieved .