Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium
Belgium: Bathing sites with excellent water quality was 70.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium, 1992–2025
Source: European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium is 70.0%, measured in 2025.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and down 14.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium peaked at 82.2% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 27.4%, in 1992.
Belgium ranks 19th of 27 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 27.4% | — |
| 1993 | 30.6% | +11.8% |
| 1994 | 30.6% | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 35.4% | +15.5% |
| 1996 | 69.4% | +96.1% |
| 1997 | 62.0% | -10.6% |
| 1998 | 64.0% | +3.2% |
| 1999 | 50.0% | -21.9% |
| 2000 | 42.0% | -16.0% |
| 2001 | 52.0% | +23.8% |
| 2002 | 54.7% | +5.2% |
| 2003 | 47.1% | -13.8% |
| 2004 | 40.3% | -14.6% |
| 2005 | 47.9% | +19.0% |
| 2006 | 44.0% | -8.2% |
| 2007 | 44.0% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 35.5% | -19.3% |
| 2009 | 41.7% | +17.3% |
| 2010 | 29.6% | -28.9% |
| 2011 | 60.8% | +105.1% |
| 2012 | 63.0% | +3.6% |
| 2013 | 70.4% | +11.8% |
| 2014 | 80.9% | +14.9% |
| 2015 | 81.7% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 81.7% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 81.7% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 82.2% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 78.1% | -5.0% |
| 2020 | 74.0% | -5.2% |
| 2021 | 71.6% | -3.3% |
| 2022 | 72.4% | +1.1% |
| 2023 | 68.5% | -5.4% |
| 2024 | 69.7% | +1.6% |
| 2025 | 70.0% | +0.5% |
Belgium compared with similar countries
- Belgium's 70.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 80.0%, 88% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
- Belgium's 70.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 80.4%, 87% of the median. (26 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | +105.1% | 29.6% | 60.8% |
| 1996 | +96.1% | 35.4% | 69.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 46.2% | 27.4% | 69.4% | 8 |
| 2000s | 44.9% | 35.5% | 54.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 71.0% | 29.6% | 82.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 71.0% | 68.5% | 74.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More environment data for Belgium
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.574 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.19 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.5577 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.0605 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium?
- Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Belgium was 70.0% in 2025, according to European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 82.2% in 2018.
- What is the lowest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.4% in 1992.
- How does Belgium rank for bathing sites with excellent water quality?
- Belgium ranks 19th out of 27 countries with data for 2025.
- Is bathing sites with excellent water quality rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Belgium data come from?
- The figures come from European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Bathing sites with excellent water quality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of bathing water sites in lakes or rivers that are of excellent quality. This means contamination levels of certain bacteria are below a strict threshold.