The Brussels-Capital Region has confirmed its position as the country’s leader in car-free living, with more than half of households owning no vehicle, according to fresh data from Belgian statistics office Statbel.
Figures show that 56.4% of households in Brussels live without a car, a percentage far higher than anywhere else in the country. By contrast, Wallonia records 24.7% of households without a vehicle, while in Flanders the figure stands at 23.6%.
At the national level, 72% of Belgian households own at least one car. The trend is particularly strong among families, with nearly 90% of couples with children having access to a vehicle. Single-parent households, however, trail behind at 70%, while only half of individuals living alone own a car.
The contrast between Brussels and the rest of Belgium is striking. In municipalities such as Saint-Gilles and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, more than seven in ten households do not own a vehicle, at 72.2% and 72.1% respectively. Other central municipalities also show high rates of car-free living: Ixelles (67.6%), Etterbeek (65.9%), and the City of Brussels (64.7%).
Meanwhile, some smaller municipalities in Wallonia report the opposite trend, with the lowest proportions of car-free households nationwide. Nandrin leads this ranking with only 8.5% of households without a car, followed by Verlaine (9.8%), La Bruyère (10.0%), Olne (10.5%), and Tinlot (10.6%).
Belgian households collectively own an average of 1.06 cars, a figure unchanged since 2021. Yet this national average masks wide regional differences. Brussels households own on average just 0.54 cars, the lowest in the country and a decline of 1.8% compared to 2023.
This downward trend in the capital has been consistent since 2021, reflecting both the dense urban environment and the availability of public transport alternatives. In Wallonia, car ownership is increasing slightly, with households averaging 1.12 cars, a 0.9% rise from last year. Flanders remains steady at 1.13 cars per household, unchanged since 2022.
At the extremes of the spectrum, Saint-Gilles and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode record the lowest average ownership at just 0.33 cars per household. By contrast, the affluent municipality of Lasne reports the highest level of car ownership in Belgium, with an average of 1.68 cars per household.
The figures highlight how geography, urban density, and lifestyle shape car ownership patterns across Belgium. For Brussels, the shift away from private cars signals a growing reliance on alternative transport, while much of the rest of the country remains firmly attached to car ownership.
