After being hit by a severe recession in 2008–09, the Belgian economy is gradually recovering. When core inflation remained subdued in 2010, headline inflation jumped up due to the energy price hike. The growth of potential output is expected to revert to its declining trend over the medium...

Economic activity picked up in the course of 1999, despite the dioxin crisis of mid-year, owing to a recovery in export markets following the world financial turmoil of late 1998, supportive monetary policy in the euro area, improvements in business and consumer confidence, and continued growth...

Although economic performance has remained good, difficulties in building consensus for institutional reform have caused an ill-affordable hiatus in economic policymaking. Robust economic activity absorbed a growing labor force and allowed the unemployment rate to decline continuously....