Europe · country profile
Data centres and AI in Belgium, ranked against Europe and the US
Belgium ranks 4th of 28 European countries for highest share of businesses using AI (34.5%, 2025); its weakest is 17th of 24 for most TOP500 supercomputing power (11.0 PF, 2026/06). Data centres use about 4% of its electricity (BCG, 2024, estimate). It hosts no EU AI Factory (role: Antenna). Sources: Eurostat, Ember, EuroHPC, TOP500, Epoch AI; data as of 2026-10-12.
Updated 12 October 2026 · data build 2026-10-10 · how we know · corrections
Where Belgium ranks among 31 European countries
Rank 1 = best on the measure's own terms (cheapest, lowest carbon, highest share, most). Each rank is among the European countries with a figure, so the "of" number differs. Belgium is an EU member. Measured
No figure for Belgium on: GPU-cluster compute (Epoch AI).
Download CSV ↓Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · Ember European wholesale prices (via StackPath eu_power_prices) · Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0) · BCG, Belgium: the power of compute (via The Brussels Times) · Eurostat isoc_eb_ai · Eurostat isoc_ai_iaiu · TOP500, June 2026 list (via eu_compute) · EuroHPC JU (via eu_ai_factories) · Eurostat Comext DS-045409 · EU EED data-centre dashboard (via eu_dc_capacity) · as of 2026-10-12 · Compiled by StackPath
Belgium against the EU-27 average and the US
Same measure, same source family, nearest year. A dash means no comparable figure, not zero. Measured
| Measure | Belgium | EU-27 | US | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big-user electricity price | €0.101/kWh H1 20267% below EU | €0.110/kWh H2 2025 | €0.076/kWh 2025 | €0.165/kWh H1 2026 |
| Grid carbon intensity | 151 g/kWh 202528% below EU | 211 g/kWh 2025 | 384 g/kWh 2025 | 263 g/kWh 2025 |
| Clean power share | 72.1% 2025+1.1 pts vs EU | 71% 2025 | 43% 2025 | 47.7% 2025 |
| Data centres' share of electricity | 4% 2024+1 pt vs EU | 3% 2024 | 4.4% 2023 | 23.2% 2025 |
| Businesses using AI | 34.5% 2025+14.6 pts vs EU | 19.9% 2025 | – | 19.6% 2025 |
| People using generative AI | 42% 2025+9.3 pts vs EU | 32.7% 2025 | – | 44.9% 2025 |
| Electricity use per person | 7.2 MWh 20251.2× EU | 6.2 MWh 2025 | 13.3 MWh 2025 | 6.8 MWh 2025 |
| Supercomputing per million people | 0.9 PF 2026/0691% below EU | 10.2 PF 2026/06 | 20.6 PF 2026/06 | 1.2 PF 2026/06 |
| GPU compute per million people | no figure | 177 H100e 2025-07 | 3,660 H100e 2025-07 | – |
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205, isoc_eb_ai, isoc_ai_iaiu · Ember · EIA via eu_power_prices · LBNL via US DOE (US data-centre share) · Ember Grids for data centres (Europe share) · TOP500 · Epoch AI GPU clusters · World Bank population · as of 2026-10-12 · Compiled by StackPath
Our reading. Per person, Belgium has 4.5% of the US level of TOP500 supercomputing power. Epoch's database covers only part of the world's AI compute, and private clusters are under-recorded everywhere. Estimate
Power: 72% clean generation, €0.101/kWh for the largest users
Generation mix in 2025 (Ember); big-user prices exclude VAT (Eurostat band IG, 150 GWh a year or more). Measured
Share of generation by source, 2025. Darker bars are fossil. Demand 85.5 TWh; generation 72.1 TWh; net imports 13.4 TWh. Carbon intensity 151 gCO2e/kWh (EU-27: 211; US: 384).
Big-user electricity price, € per kWh excluding VAT, by half-year (band IG). The EU-27 average is published later than country figures.
Wholesale power averaged €101/MWh over 2025-10 to 2026-09 (10th cheapest of 27). Taxes and levies (excluding VAT) were 6.8% of the big-user price in Eurostat's latest year-end comparison.
Source: Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0) · Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · Ember wholesale prices via eu_power_prices · Compiled by StackPath
Data centres: about 4% of Belgium's electricity
Electricity share, capacity reported under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED, the EU's data-centre reporting law), grid requests, restrictions and energy rules. Reported
- Share of electricity: 4% in 2024 (share of national electricity consumption (BCG estimate; year read from 'last year' in a May 2025 report); BCG, Belgium: the power of compute (via The Brussels Times), estimate). Europe as a whole: about 3% (2024, Ember estimate); the US: 4.4% (2023, LBNL estimate).
- Reported to the EU (EED): 341 MW of IT capacity at 19 sites for 2025, of an estimated 48 sites that should report; average PUE (power usage effectiveness: total power ÷ IT power) 1.14. Coverage is partial, so this is a floor.
Restrictions and connection rules (2)
- Elia data-centre category with maximum allocation (connection rule, active), from 2025-09-05
- CREG connection code amendments (use it or lose it) (connection rule, active), from 2026-01-29
On top of national rules, 7 EU-level rules apply to data centres in every member state (EED reporting, the rating scheme and heat-reuse rules).
Source: BCG, Belgium: the power of compute (via The Brussels Times) · EU EED data-centre dashboard · Compiled by StackPath
Cloud and capital: €5bn pledged by hyperscalers, €0bn with visible building
Hyperscaler pledges (a pledge is not a building), sovereign-cloud offers by jurisdiction, and neocloud (GPU cloud) sites. Reported
| Company | Pledge | Announced | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| €5bn | 2025-10-08 | unknown |
1 current pledge worth €5bn; €0bn of it is stalled (paused, delayed or cancelled). Horizons and currencies differ.
Sovereign-cloud offers under Belgium's jurisdiction (1)
- Clarence (Google Cloud Dedicated partner, Belgium/Luxembourg) · European provider · announced
Source: StackPath eu_pledges (company announcements) · StackPath sovereign_cloud · StackPath eu_neoclouds (filings, company releases) · Compiled by StackPath
Compute: 11 PF on the TOP500
Public AI Factories (EuroHPC), gigafactory bids, the TOP500 supercomputer list and Epoch AI's database of GPU clusters (in H100-equivalents: compute expressed as a number of Nvidia H100 chips). Measured
- EuroHPC role: Antenna (BE-AIFA, selected, linked to LUMI AI Factory and JAIF).
- TOP500 (2026/06): 2 systems, 11 PF combined (0.06% of the list).
- GPU clusters (Epoch AI): none recorded for Belgium (Epoch's database is partial; absence means none recorded).
Source: EuroHPC JU via eu_ai_factories · TOP500 June 2026 · Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0) · StackPath eu_compute (announced clusters) · Compiled by StackPath
Chips: €1,400m of Chips Act aid approved for 1 project
Fabs and pilot lines under the EU Chips Act (aid approved is not production), and AI-chip startups headquartered here. Reported
| Project | Company | Aid €m | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NanoIC pilot line | imec (Chips JU) | 1,400 | operating |
AI-chip startups
| Company | City | Funding $m | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical Compute | Louvain-la-Neuve | 22 | pre-silicon |
Source: StackPath eu_chips (Commission decisions, company releases) · StackPath eu_ai_chip_startups · Compiled by StackPath
AI use: 42% of people used generative AI in 2025 (EU: 33%)
Eurostat's surveys of businesses (10+ employees, any AI technology) and of people aged 16–74 (generative AI tools in the last three months), plus AI labs headquartered here. Measured
Share of businesses with 10 or more employees using at least one AI technology (Eurostat isoc_eb_ai; survey years only). Belgium: 34.5% in 2025, 4th of 28.
Share of people aged 16–74 who used generative AI tools in the three months before the 2025 survey. There is no comparable official US series.
Source: Eurostat isoc_eb_ai · Eurostat isoc_ai_iaiu · StackPath eu_ai_labs (Epoch AI, company releases) · Compiled by StackPath
Servers: 1.2% of the EU's server imports from outside the EU land in Belgium
Customs flows (Eurostat Comext), not machines installed: ports of entry such as the Netherlands count goods that move on. Measured
- Servers (HS 847150) from outside the EU, 2025-08 to 2026-07: €357m, 9th of 27 member states.
- All compute kit (servers, parts, network gear, chips) from outside the EU, last 12 months: €1.05bn (1% of the EU total, rank 12); servers up 7% on the previous 12 months.
Source: Eurostat Comext DS-045409 · StackPath eu_hardware_imports · Compiled by StackPath
What our data does not show for Belgium
Gaps, not zeros: a missing row means no public figure we could check, or that the series does not cover this country.
- No EU AI Factory and no public AI gigafactory bid.
Deeper pages and other countries
Each layer has its own page with the full European table.
- The country scorecard (18 largest markets)
- Electricity prices for data centres
- Data-centre capacity and electricity use
- Data-centre grid queues
- Restrictions and moratoriums
- Data-centre energy rules
- Hyperscaler pledges vs builds
- Sovereign cloud
- Neoclouds
- EU AI Factories and gigafactories
- AI compute in Europe
- Chips Act fabs
- AI chip startups
- European AI labs
- Server imports
- The global AI compute race
All 31 country profiles
Our reading. Against Ireland, Belgium pays 39% less for big-user power and runs a cleaner grid (151 vs 263 gCO2e/kWh). Where data centres and AI compute go also depends on grid access, land, fibre, tax and customers, which these measures do not capture. Our reading
Questions people ask
- How much do large electricity users pay in Belgium?
- Eurostat's average for users of 150 GWh or more a year in Belgium was €0.101/kWh in H1 2026, excluding VAT: 8th cheapest of 26 European countries with a figure. The EU-27 average was €0.110 (H2 2025); US industrial users paid about €0.076 in 2025 (EIA, all industrial users).
- How much electricity do data centres use in Belgium?
- About 4% in 2024 (BCG, Belgium: the power of compute (via The Brussels Times), estimate). Europe as a whole: about 3% (Ember, 2024); the US: 4.4% (LBNL, 2023).
- Does Belgium host an EU AI Factory?
- No. Its role in the EuroHPC programme: Antenna.
- How many people and businesses in Belgium use AI?
- 42% of people aged 16–74 used generative AI tools in the three months before the 2025 survey (EU-27: 32.7%). 34.5% of businesses with 10 or more employees used at least one AI technology in 2025 (EU-27: 19.9%). Source: Eurostat.
- How does Belgium compare with Ireland?
- Big-user power: €0.101 vs Ireland's €0.165/kWh; grid carbon: 151 vs 263 gCO2e/kWh; data centres' share of electricity: 4% vs 23.2%; people using generative AI: 42% vs 44.9%.