Car-free households on the rise in Brussels

Car ownership is decreasing in Brussels, according to the latest figures from Belgium’s statistical agency Statbel.

In 2024, more than half (56%) of Brussels households did not own a car, slightly more than in 2023. This compares to just 24.7% in Wallonia and 23.6% in Flanders.

The statistics show that Saint-Gilles and Saint-Josse are the communes in Brussels where residents are least likely to own a car.

In 2024, 72% of Belgian households had at least one car. While this percentage is nearly 90% for couples with children, it is only 70% for lone parents. Half of people living alone do not have a car.

Unsurprisingly, municipalities in the Brussels region have the highest percentages of households without cars. Saint-Gilles tops the list with 72.2%, followed by Saint-Josse (72.1%), Ixelles (67.6%), Etterbeek (65.9%) and the City of Brussels (64.7%).

Conversely, some Walloon municipalities have very low rates. Nandrin, in Liège province, stands out with only 8.5% of households without a car.

At a regional level, the Brussels region has an average rate well below the national average with 0.54 cars per household, compared to 1.06 nationally. This figure has been decreasing since 2021.

Children often spell more cars, the statistics showed. Nationally, only 10.3% of couples with at least one child did not have a car in 2024. Some 36.9% had one car, 38.6% possessed two and 14.2% had at least three.