Belgium's political parties have accumulated a record total of 165 million euros in assets by the end of 2022, as revealed in their annual accounts submitted to the Chamber and analyzed by

De Standaard. The N-VA emerges as the wealthiest party, boasting 34.1 million euros in assets, nearly double the amount held by the second-placed PS party with 18.8 million euros. Following closely is Vlaams Belang with 17.1 million euros, which has consistently increased its assets since the 2019 elections.

Over the past two years, the combined assets of the parties have grown by one-fifth, reaching 157 million euros at the end of 2021 compared to 133.5 million euros in 2020. While staff and administration costs remain the primary expenditure for most parties, there has been a notable rise in advertising expenses, particularly on social media platforms.

As Belgium gears up for local, regional, federal, and European elections scheduled for 2024, the parties are diligently building up their "war chests," according to De Standaard. The Christian democrats CD&V, for instance, have already set aside more than 5 million euros for election advertising.

In terms of advertising expenditures, the total amount spent by all parties increased from 15.1 million euros in 2021 to 17.1 million euros in the past year. N-VA leads the pack with 4.2 million euros, followed by Vlaams Belang and PVDA with 2.8 million euros and 2.5 million euros, respectively. Photo by Theedi, Wikimedia commons.