Market Research Companies in Belgium

Key figures for researchers

Population

11.87 million (1 January 2026)¹

Population by region

Flanders 6.90m, Wallonia 3.71m, Brussels-Capital 1.26m (1 January 2026)¹

Non-Belgian nationals

13.8% of residents, 37% in Brussels (1 January 2026)²

Belgians with a foreign background

22.8% of residents; 42% in Brussels, 26% in Wallonia, 18% in Flanders (1 January 2026)²

German-speaking Community

79,479 inhabitants (1 January 2024)⁴

Aged 65 and over

21.0% of the population (2025)⁵

Internet users

95.8% of individuals (2024)⁷

Daily internet use, aged 65–74

91% of internet users in this age group (2025)⁶

Mobile subscriptions

104 per 100 people (2024)⁸

GDP per capita

about US$60,800 (2025)⁹

Research guide

Research landscape

Belgium is a small but mature research market. Many agencies are based in and around Brussels, and others in the large Flemish and Walloon cities such as Antwerp, Ghent and Liège. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, B2B and healthcare firms, field and telephone suppliers, and online panel providers.

The main international reference for professional standards is the ICC/ESOMAR International Code. Created in 1977 and revised in 2025 (fifth edition), it is endorsed by more than 60 associations in over 50 countries and is mandatory for ESOMAR members. The 2025 edition adds rules on the responsible use of AI and stronger protection for children, young people and vulnerable people.

Languages and fieldwork

The Constitution divides Belgium into four language areas: Dutch-speaking, French-speaking, German-speaking and the bilingual Brussels-Capital area. Every municipality belongs to one of them. Nine municipalities in the east, including Eupen and St. Vith, form the German-speaking area, and the German-speaking Community had 79,479 inhabitants on 1 January 2024.

A national sample therefore needs at least a Dutch and a French questionnaire: Flanders has 6.90 million people, Wallonia 3.71 million and Brussels 1.26 million. In Brussels, offer both languages to every respondent; add a German version if the east of the country is in scope. The population is also diverse: 13.8% of residents are not Belgian nationals and a further 22.8% are Belgians with a foreign background, with much higher shares in Brussels (37% non-Belgian nationals, 42% Belgians with a foreign background). Quotas by region and origin help avoid bias.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: 95.8% of individuals use the internet, and even among internet users aged 65 to 74, 91% go online every day or almost every day. Online surveys using access panels are the main method for consumer research, and online communities and video interviews are common for qualitative work.

Older people still need attention: 21.0% of the population is 65 or over, and official internet-use figures stop at age 74. Telephone (CATI) and face-to-face interviews remain useful for the oldest or offline audiences, hard-to-reach groups and B2B decision makers. For in-person focus groups, plan separate groups by language rather than mixing Dutch and French speakers.

Timing

School holidays differ between the language communities. The French-speaking community changed its calendar from the 2022–2023 school year: school starts on the last Monday of August, the autumn and carnival holidays last two weeks instead of one, and the summer holidays are two weeks shorter. Dates in Flanders and in French-speaking schools (Wallonia and the French-language schools of Brussels) no longer coincide.

In 2026–2027, the autumn holiday runs from 19 to 30 October 2026 in French-speaking schools and from 2 to 8 November 2026 in Flanders. Christmas is common to both (21 December 2026 to 3 January 2027). The February break is 8 to 14 February 2027 in Flanders and 22 February to 5 March 2027 in French-speaking schools; the spring holiday is 29 March to 11 April 2027 in Flanders and 26 April to 7 May 2027 in French-speaking schools. Summer holidays run from 1 July to 31 August 2027 in Flanders and start on 3 July 2027 in French-speaking schools. Families and B2B targets are harder to reach in these periods, so allow more fieldwork time.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the GDPR and the Belgian Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data, in force since 5 September 2018. It sets 13 as the age from which a child can consent to the use of an online information service, lower than the GDPR default of 16.

The supervisor is the Data Protection Authority (Autorité de protection des données / Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit, APD/GBA), created by the Law of 3 December 2017 to replace the former Privacy Commission. Anyone can file a complaint free of charge, and its Litigation Chamber can issue fines, reprimands, processing bans or orders to erase data. Ask your agency which lawful basis it uses, how respondents are informed, where the data is hosted and how recordings will be shared.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, regions, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask how the questionnaire will be translated and checked in Dutch and French (and German if needed), and who validates each version.
• Ask which panels will be used, how fraud and duplicates are removed, and how quotas by region, language and origin are set and weighted.
• Check the fieldwork calendar against both the Flemish and the French-speaking school holidays.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.