Search form

menu menu
  • Daily & Weekly newsletters
  • Buy & download The Bulletin
  • Comment on our articles

Most Brussels singles live in Ganshoren and Ixelles

11:59 08/03/2017

Single-person households will make up half of all Belgian households by 2060, wrote various Belgian media yesterday based on a prediction from the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB). "Belgium is increasingly urban," agrees VUB demographer Patrick Deboosere, who points out that this is already the case in Brussels, where one in two households consists of singles. But at the same time Deboosere warns against "wrong" interpretations of the demographic trend, writes Bruzz.

"Saying that half of the households in Brussels are single-person households is not the same as saying that half of the inhabitants of Brussels are single,” says Deboosere. He points out that Ganshoren and Ixelles are the two municipalities in the Brussels Region with the highest number of singles: Ganshoren for elderly people, and Ixelles for students, expatriates and international trainees.

As for the singles in a municipality such as Ixelles, Deboosere says: "It's about registered singles but these figures say nothing about LAT relationships (Living Apart Together) and other non-traditional relationships that are more common among students, trainees and expats."

Written by Robyn Boyle