A total of 36,834 people acquired Belgian nationality in the Flemish Region in 2025, continuing an upward trend in the number of foreign nationals becoming Belgian citizens. The figures, published on Friday by Statistics
Flanders, include individuals who obtained citizenship through naturalisation, an approved declaration of nationality or a formal grant.
The latest total represents a significant increase compared with 2024, when 33,892 people acquired Belgian nationality. Statistics Flanders reports that the number has grown particularly rapidly since 2020, although the current trend follows an earlier peak recorded in 2000 and 2001. That increase was largely linked to legislative changes introduced at the time, which made it easier to obtain Belgian citizenship through an accelerated procedure.
Women accounted for a slightly larger share of new Belgian citizens, representing 52 per cent of those who changed nationality, compared with 48 per cent of men.
Young and middle-aged adults made up the largest proportion of applicants. People aged between 18 and 40 accounted for 42 per cent of all those who acquired Belgian nationality in 2025. By contrast, people aged 67 and above represented just 1.5 per cent.
Moroccans and Romanians were the two largest groups among those who became Belgian citizens. A total of 2,678 people previously holding Moroccan nationality acquired Belgian citizenship, followed by 2,553 Romanian nationals.
The remaining countries represented in the ten largest groups were Afghanistan, Poland, Syria, Türkiye, the Netherlands, India, Palestine and Iraq.
The data also highlight a growing number of people changing nationality who previously held citizenship from countries in the EU13 group or from Asian countries.
The EU13 category covers the 13 member states that joined the European Union in the enlargement rounds of 2004, 2007 and 2013: Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The figures underline the continuing growth in the number of foreign nationals acquiring Belgian citizenship in Flanders, reflecting changes in the region's population and the increasing diversity of its communities. Photo by Editer132w, Wikimedia commons.
