Where is it better to live in Belgium or in Czech Republic?
To answer the question - which country - Belgium or Czech Republic, is more comfortable for living, let’s compare different constituents which make the standard of living:
Would you like to contrast other countries? Fill them in the proper gaps and choose the criteria for comparison:
Perhaps, it’s difficult to argue that it’s better to live in a rich country than in a poor one. As of 2024 year data, the basic indicator of the economic development - GDP by purchasing power parity per capita - was:
● In Belgium - 73,9 thousand dollars,
● In Czech Republic - 58,5 thousand dollars.
Thus, according to the gross production per one person, Belgium leaves Czech Republic behind by %.
Let’s compare the data about minimum and average labor level pay in both countries.
● The minimum wage in Belgium set at €1,593.8;
● The minimum wage in Czech Republic set at CZK 20,800 (approximately US$ 850).
The average gross salary (before the taxes and other mandatory fees) is:
● in Belgium - 4,611 euros (4936 US$);
● in Czech Republic - 43,400 CZK (about 2000 US$).
The average net salary (i.e. the sum, given to the workers after the tax pay) is a bit lower:
● in Belgium - 2,751 euros (2945 US$);
● in Czech Republic - 34.7 Czech Koruna (about 1600 US$).
Where are the prices lower? up↑
The average GDP gap per capita is narrowed down by the difference in cost of living. According to the statistics of the data base Numbeo, at the beginning of 2025 year, Belgium is a more expensive country.
The price level in Belgium for basic goods and services (including food, consumer goods, transport, mobile connection and utility bills) is on average % higher than in Czech Republic. In other words, at the current exchange rate 1000 dollars in Czech Republic will have the same purchasing power as dollars in Belgium.
Where is the crime rate lower? up↑
One can evaluate the general level of criminal situation with the help of “crime rate”. This indicator is calculated by the portal Numbeo, which specializes in rating scores of different life aspects in all the world regions and shows how safe it is to live in the country from a risk of becoming a victim of lawbreakers (the higher the crime rate is, the higher the risk is). As of 2025 year, the crime rate is:
● in Belgium - 49.4;
● in Czech Republic - 26.5
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To estimate the population law-abidingness and law enforcement activity, let’s pay attention to the statics of premeditated murders and to the data about the number of Belgians and Czechs, being imprisoned.
Yearly out of 100 thousand people, murders kill:
● in Belgium - 1.08 people;
● in Czech Republic - 0.83 people
***As of 2023 year, in prisons and criminal camps the number of inmates is:
● in Belgium - 10.9 thousand, or 95 prisoners per 100,000 people;
● in Czech Republic - 19.3 thousand, or 177 prisoners per 100,000 people
Overall, they kill more often in Belgium, one stays behind the bars more often in Czech Republic.
Where do people get sick less and live longer? up↑
The life quality is greatly defined by how long the people live. According to the latest data, the life expectancy is:
● in Belgium - 81.4 years (79.3 years among men and 83.5 years among women)
● in Czech Republic - 79.1 years (76.3 years among men and 81.9 years among women)
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To get an idea about the nation’s health and the system of health care, one should look at the spread of dangerous diseases in the country. Let’s compare where people often suffer from such diseases as HIV-infections, tuberculosis and cancer.
According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), the spread of HIV-infections is:
● in Belgium - 19000 of the infected (0.16% of population)
● in Czech Republic - 3900 of the infected (0.04% of population)
The number of people infected by tuberculosis is:
● in Belgium - 1000 people (9 per 100,000 people);
● in Czech Republic - 530 people (5 per 100,000 people)
The cancer situation is the following:
● in Belgium per 100 000 people yearly one finds 349.2 new cases of the disease and registers 101.3 lethal cases;
● in Czech Republic per 100k people every year one fixes 292.6 of newly infected people and 106.2 lethal cases from cancer.
We should not judge about the quality of medicine only by the number of cancer cases, we should look at the ratio between the number of new cases and the number of cancer deaths (the lower it is, the higher the rate of the cured ones is; consequently, the better the health care system works). In the countries under consideration, we see the following ratio between the newly-infected and the dead:
● in Belgium - ;
● in Czech Republic -
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We can estimate the effectiveness of the health care systems of Belgium and Czech Republic on the base of the health care quality index which is estimated by Nubmbeo. The index comprehensively displays how bad or good it is in the country with medical services, taking into consideration hospital facilities, medicines, staff professionalism and treatment availability in terms of cost. As of 2025 year, the index is:
● in Belgium - 75.9;
● in Czech Republic - 75.5
Where do people drink and smoke less? up↑
It’s considered that It’s more comfortable to live in that country where people are less exposed to bad habits. The following WHO data show that the situation with the alcohol consumption (pure alcohol) runs as this:
● in Belgium - 11.1 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 17.2 litres per every man and 5.3 litres per every woman);
● in Czech Republic - 14.5 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 22.3 litres per every man and 7 litres per every woman)
How noticeable are the differences in alcoholic beverages of the Belgians and the Czechs?
● in Belgium, in terms of pure alcohol, beer accounts for 49.2% % of consumption, wine accounts for 36.3% of consumption, strong drinks (vodka and cognac, etc.) account for 14.4%;
● in Czech Republic beer accounts for 53.5% from the total amount of alcohol consumption, wine accounts for 20.5%, strong drinks - 26%
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Addiction to smoking in the countries under consideration is seen like that:
● in Belgium there are 26,7 % of active smokers among the adults (29 % of adult males and 24,5 % of adult females smoke there);
● in Czech Republic 29,9 % of adult population smoke on a constant base (33,4 % of men and 26,5 % of women)
By unit tobacco consumption per capita the leader is Belgium - here on average every adult smokes 2441 cigarettes per year, against 2428 cigarettes per capita in Czech Republic.
Where do people have more reasons to be satisfied with their lives? up↑
Perhaps, it’s very difficult to make up an indicator, with the help of which one can define how much the people of this or that country are satisfied by their lives. Nevertheless, there have been a couple of researches.
For example, the UN experts calculate a so-called "Rating of countries by the Happiness Index”, which helps to understand to what degree the states provide their citizens with the happy life. As of 2023 data, the happiest ones are Belgians, their happiness index is 6.859, meanwhile in Czech Republic the happiness index is equal to 6.845.
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There is also an overall index, which is used by UNO - Human Development Index (HDI). This index considers various reasons why citizens feel comfortable. According to 2022 data, HDI in Belgium is 0.937; in Czech Republic - 0.889.
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To indirectly evaluate how much the people are satisfied with their lives, one can consider the number of suicides. It comes logically that the better the lives of the people are arranged, the fewer reasons for the suicides there are. In the countries under consideration, per 100 000 people there are:
● in Belgium - 13,9 suicides (19,6 among men and 8,4 among women) ;
● in Czech Republic - 9,5 suicides (15,4 among men and 3,8 among women)
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