Belgium vs Netherlands
About the same — Belgium against Netherlands
On national price levels, Belgium is about as expensive as Netherlands. Both figures use the United States as 100.
Where the difference actually sits
A single number hides the interesting part. These are the categories Eurostat prices for both countries.
| Category | Belgium | Netherlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services) | 79.6 | 81.1 | -2% |
| Food and non-alcoholic drinks | 105.3 | 98.9 | +6% |
| Bread and cereals | 105.0 | 90.5 | +16% |
| Meat | 120.2 | 106.0 | +13% |
| Fish | 104.1 | 93.6 | +11% |
| Milk, cheese and eggs | 99.5 | 100.6 | -1% |
| Fruit and vegetables | 100.1 | 95.1 | +5% |
| Non-alcoholic drinks | 106.6 | 119.8 | -11% |
| Alcoholic drinks | 113.6 | 100.0 | +14% |
| Tobacco | 136.2 | 160.7 | -15% |
| Clothing and footwear | 98.2 | 93.0 | +6% |
| Housing, water, electricity and fuel | 130.8 | 129.8 | +1% |
| Furnishings and household equipment | 104.3 | 101.1 | +3% |
| Health | 120.8 | 139.8 | -14% |
| Transport | 108.4 | 112.9 | -4% |
| Communication | 168.6 | 134.2 | +26% |
| Recreation and culture | 106.3 | 112.4 | -5% |
| Education | 153.7 | 150.3 | +2% |
| Restaurants and hotels | 124.2 | 124.6 | -0% |
SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
Before you use this to decide anything
- These are national averages. Comparing two capital cities is a different question and this data cannot answer it.
- Price level is only half of the decision. What matters is prices relative to what you would earn — see what the job pays in each country on PayLens.
- The figures are indices, not prices. Nothing here is a quote for rent or groceries.
How the price level is worked out
- The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
- The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
- Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
- Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026