It is the housing construction segment that is hardest hit, with a decline in activity of 7.3%. A trend which is increasing, after two already very difficult years. The year 2025 does not promise much better for this segment (-3.3%), which is particularly worrying. “We will have to build more housing, because the number of single people and single-parent families is increasing, and more and more elderly people are staying at home. Over the next 5 years, 375,000 housing units will have to be built in Belgium, otherwise we will experience a widespread housing crisis, like that in the Netherlands”, adds Niko Demeester.
The construction sector in great difficulty: the number of bankruptcies has exploded in 2024
Housing renovation, another challenge
The other challenge for improving the energy performance of Belgian buildings is the renovation of housing. But here too, activity is slowing down. In 2022, the growth rate increased by 2.5%, but since then it has fallen sharply in 2023 (+1%) and in 2024 (+0.5%). It will remain largely insufficient in 2025 (+1.3%). “To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, renovation work will have to accelerate in the years to come. In Flanders, they will have to be 3 times faster, and in Brussels and Wallonia, 4 times faster. Concretely, in Belgium, 471 homes would have to be renovated per day, compared to 144 today.”
The only segment that continued to record positive results in 2024 was infrastructure works, with an increase in activity of 4.1%, but the outlook for 2025 is not very optimistic. “If activity has been on the rise, it is due to a large number of infrastructure projects, such as the Oosterweel in Antwerp, the new lock in Terneuzen, local investments made before the elections as well as plans recovery. After elections, new local administrations and new governments (at federal and regional level) always need some time to develop their investment plans. This is why we will experience a significant slowdown in investments in 2025, which will cause the infrastructure works segment to decline significantly compared to previous years.”
This is the most expensive neighborhood in the world
