Anderlecht overtakes Schaerbeek to become Brussels' second-biggest commune

Anderlecht has overtaken Schaerbeek as Brussels’ second most-populated municipality after the City of Brussels, new figures reveal.

The change is due to a drop in the number of inhabitants in Schaerbeek over the past 10 years and strong population growth in Anderlecht, Bruzz reports.

In no other municipality has the population fallen so sharply as it has in Schaerbeek over the past decade.

The Brussels region as a whole had a population of 1,251,715 at the start of this year, according to provisional figures from the National Register, representing a slight increase of 0.07% compared to last year.

But when examining the trend over the past 10 years, the population of the Brussels region has grown by just over 6%, with more than 70,000 people moving to Brussels in the last decade.

There are considerable local differences behind these figures. In the period 2016-2026, population growth was strongest in Evere (+16%), followed by Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (+12.6%) and Brussels-City (+12.2%).

Anderlecht saw significant growth of about 11%, or almost 13,000 inhabitants.

Also when compared to 2025, Anderlecht was one of the municipalities to see strongest growth. Anderlecht registered 1,157 more inhabitants (+0.9%) at the start of this year compared to the previous year, bringing its total population to 129,220.

Schaerbeek recorded 127,409 inhabitants (-1.3%), making it the third most-populated municipality. The downward population trend in Schaerbeek has been going on for some time. Compared to 10 years ago, Schaerbeek has almost 4,000 fewer inhabitants, a decline of more than 3%.

Schaerbeek is one of three municipalities where the population has declined over the past decade. The number of inhabitants also fell in Saint-Gilles (-2.9%) and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (-1.99%) compared to 2016.

In these municipalities, the number of inhabitants also decreased compared to 2025, by 0.1% and 0.8% respectively.

Koekelberg (22,565) is still the municipality with the smallest population, followed by Watermael-Boitsfort (25,282), Ganshoren (25,692) and Berchem-Saint-Agathe (25,764).