BRUSSELS – The average Fleming earned EUR 21,111 in 2004, EUR 4,293 more than a Walloon. The income difference did decrease for the first time in years however. This emerged from figures from the Institute for the National Accounts. The EUR 4,293 comes to a 25.2-percent difference between Flemish and Walloon wages. The difference was 25.3 percent in 2003.

The figures are based on income from work, assets and savings, without taking into account social benefits and taxes.

Monica Maeseele, responsible for regional figures at the National Bank, says that it is certainly too early to conclude on the basis of this that the Walloon plans for recovery are succeeding. Still the figures do point in the direction of a break in the trend.

The figures for disposable income, for instance, which do take into account social benefits and taxes, show a narrowing margin. An average Fleming had disposable income of EUR 16,348 in 2004, compared to the EUR 14,035 at the Walloon’s disposal – a difference of 14.1 percent. The difference was 14.3 percent in 2003.

Figures for the gross domestic product (GDP) also indicate improvement in Wallonia. The per capita GDP for the Flanders region came to EUR 27,485 in 2004, compared to EUR 20,072 in Wallonia, a difference of 26.9 percent. That margin narrowed to 26.8 percent in 2005, according to preliminary GDP figures.

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news