Global Development Matters
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Overall score 2008: 4.9
Change since 2003: +0.3 (using 2008 methodology)

Belgium ranks 14th overall in 2008. Belgium places among the top third of CDI countries in only two components: foreign aid and environmental performance. Of the remaining five components, Belgium is among the bottom third of CDI countries in three: migration, security, and technology. Belgium’s overall score is hurt most by the small number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries entering Belgium during the 1990s, its arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments, its small contributions to international peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions, and its low level of government support for research and development.

Belgium Scores 2003-2007

2003: 5.6 2003: 5.8 2003: 2.7 2003: 3.9 2003: 4.9 2003: 4.6 2003: 4.7 2003: 4.6 2004: 5.3 2004: 5.8 2004: 2.7 2004: 3.6 2004: 6.3 2004: 4.3 2004: 4.9 2004: 4.7 2005: 4.6 2005: 6.4 2005: 4.2 2005: 3.8 2005: 6.6 2005: 4.1 2005: 4.9 2005: 4.9 2006: 5.4 2006: 5.8 2006: 5.2 2006: 3.7 2006: 6.7 2006: 4.0 2006: 4.6 2006: 5.1 2007: 5.7 2007: 5.8 2007: 5.0 2007: 3.8 2007: 6.7 2007: 3.7 2007: 4.1 2007: 5.0 2008: 5.1 2008: 5.5 2008: 5.2 2008: 3.6 2008: 6.9 2008: 3.7 2008: 4.5 2008: 4.9 Belgium

CDI site with animation

 

Country Reports

2008 Results

Aid
What it measures

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GNI adjusted for various quality factors: it subtracts debt service, penalizes "tied" aid that makes recipients spend aid only on donor goods and services, rewards aid to poor but relatively uncorrupt recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 5.1
  • Rank: 7

Belgium Strengths

  • High net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.41%; rank: 7)
  • Large amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy (rank by share of GDP: 7)

Belgium Weaknesses

  • Contributes to project proliferation; small average project size (rank: 14)

Trade
What it measures

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 5.5
  • Rank: 13

Belgium Weaknesses

  • High tariffs on agricultural products (38.7% of the value of imports; rank: 15)
  • High agricultural subsidies (equivalent to 14.0% tariff; rank: 19)

Investment

What it measures

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can transfer technologies, upgrade management, and create jobs. The CDI includes a checklist of policies that support healthy and productive investment in developing countries.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 5.2
  • Rank: 9

Belgium Strengths

  • Employs foreign tax credits to prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned abroad

Belgium Weaknesses

  • Does not provide assistance in identifying direct investment opportunities
  • Does not let investors enjoy developing country tax incentives

Migration
What it measures

The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the trasfer of skills when the immigrants return.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 3.6
  • Rank: 15

Belgium Weaknesses

  • Only a small increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Belgium (rank by share of population: 16)
  • Small share of foreign students from developing countries (42%; rank: 20)

Environment
What it measures

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources, and poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration, so the CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries and biodiversity.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 6.9
  • Rank: 6

Belgium Strengths

  • High gas taxes ($0.99 per liter; rank: 6)
  • Low fishing subsidies ($0.49 per person; rank: 8)
  • Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions rate in 1996–2006 (average annual growth rate/ GDP, –2.6%; rank: 8)

Belgium Weaknesses

  • High greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (14.0 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 18)

Security
What it measures

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, rewards military protection of global sea lanes, and penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 3.7
  • Rank: 16

Belgium Weaknesses

  • High arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 18)
  • Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 17)
  • Provides little protection of global sea lanes that are important to international trade (rank by share of GDP: 15)

Technology
What it measures

Rich countries can contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for R&D and penelizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

Belgium Overall

  • Score: 4.5
  • Rank: 16

Belgium Strengths

  • Low share of government R&D expenditure on defense (0.0%; rank: 3)

Belgium Weaknesses

  • Low government expenditure on R&D (rank by share of GDP: 16)
  • Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain