Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Portugal instead of Belgium, you would:

Economy

make 34.4% less money

Belgium has a GDP per capita of $63,600 as of 2023, while in Portugal, the GDP per capita is $41,700 as of 2023.

be 17.8% more likely to be unemployed

In Belgium, 5.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Portugal, that number is 6.5% as of 2023.

be 33.3% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Belgium, 12.3% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Portugal, however, that number is 16.4% as of 2021.

Life

be 21.6% less likely to die during infancy

In Belgium, approximately 3.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Portugal, on the other hand, 2.5 children do as of 2022.

be 2.4 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Belgium, approximately 5.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Portugal, 12.0 women do as of 2020.

have 25.0% fewer children

In Belgium, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Portugal, there are 8.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 25.4% less on education

Belgium spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Portugal spends 5.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 27.0 times more coastline

Belgium has a total of 66 km of coastline. In Portugal, that number is 1,793 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Portugal: At a glance

Portugal is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 91,470 sq km. Following its heyday as a global maritime power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of Brazil, its wealthiest colony, in 1822. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.
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How big is Portugal compared to Belgium? See an in-depth size comparison.

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