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Has my salary kept up with inflation?
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To keep the same purchasing power, a salary of €3,000 in January 2020 would need to reach €3,846.24 in September 2026, according to the health index of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. Prices rose by 28.2% over this period; since January 2015, by 39.8%.
Enter your salary at two dates: Indexo calculates the salary that would have kept up with prices, the gap with yours and how your purchasing power has changed. Only indices published by Statbel are used.
Two indices, two uses
The health index is the consumer price index without alcoholic drinks, tobacco and motor fuels. It is the one used to index wages, benefits and rents. Indexo uses it first: it tells you whether your salary has followed the Belgian indexation mechanism.
The consumer price index measures inflation in the strict sense, all products included. Indexo shows it alongside, when both dates are covered.
The calculation compares two levels of the same index: required salary = starting salary × end index ÷ starting index. With the price index, €2,000 on average in 2000 is worth €2,898.06 on average in 2020.
The periods covered
- Health index: every month from January 2015 to September 2026, base 2013 = 100. The months since December 2024 are read from Statbel; those from 2015 to November 2024 come from published tables, cross-checked with the official annual averages and the Regions’ correction factors.
- Price index: the annual averages from 1996 to 2020, and every month since December 2024, read from Statbel.
The annual averages of the price index from 2021 to 2024 are not in the tables that Statbel publishes as open data; they could not be checked at the source. Rather than reconstruct them, Indexo does not use them: for these years, choose a specific month, which the health index covers.
Your salary against prices
Enter your salary at the start and at the end, with the month or the year. Compare two gross amounts, or two net amounts.
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Inflation in Belgium since 1996
Average annual inflation rate published by Statbel, and the average price index for each year. The rates from 2022 to 2025 were only found in secondary sources: they are not included here.
| Year | Inflation | Price index, average |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2.44% | — |
| 2020 | 0.74% | 109.59 |
| 2019 | 1.44% | 108.78 |
| 2018 | 2.06% | 107.24 |
| 2017 | 2.13% | 105.08 |
| 2016 | 1.97% | 102.89 |
| 2015 | 0.56% | 100.90 |
| 2014 | 0.34% | 100.34 |
| 2013 | 1.11% | 100.00 |
| 2012 | 2.84% | 98.90 |
| 2011 | 3.54% | 96.17 |
| 2010 | 2.18% | 92.88 |
| 2009 | -0.05% | 90.90 |
| 2008 | 4.49% | 90.95 |
| 2007 | 1.82% | 87.04 |
| 2006 | 1.8% | 85.48 |
| 2005 | 2.8% | 83.98 |
| 2004 | 2.1% | 81.71 |
| 2003 | 1.59% | 80.03 |
| 2002 | 1.65% | 78.78 |
| 2001 | 2.47% | 77.50 |
| 2000 | 2.55% | 75.63 |
| 1999 | 1.12% | 73.75 |
| 1998 | 0.96% | 72.94 |
| 1997 | 1.63% | 72.26 |
| 1996 | 2.06% | 71.10 |
To find out when your salary will be indexed and by how much, see wage indexation. For rent, see rent indexation.
Frequently asked questions
My salary is indexed: why would it have lost purchasing power?
Indexation follows the smoothed health index, with a time lag: in January in joint committee 200, after a pivot index is exceeded in other sectors. Between two indexations, prices rise before your salary does. And if you compare with the price index, motor fuels, alcohol and tobacco count too.
Should I compare gross or net pay?
You can compare either, but not one with the other. In gross terms, you see whether indexation and your pay rises have kept up with prices. In net terms, you see what really changes in your account: because of progressive tax, a rise in gross pay gives a slightly smaller rise in net pay.
Why is the price index not available for 2021 to 2024?
Statbel publishes the annual averages up to 2020 in an open table, then only the last 13 months. The other publications could not be checked at the source. Indexo only shows verified values: for these years, the health index covers every month.
What next?
- Salary indexationWhen and by how much your salary will be indexed, sector by sector.
- Pay rise or benefits?For the same cost to the employer, what brings you the most in net pay.
- See where my salary standsYour salary compared with that of Belgian employees.
- Gross to netThe net pay of your current gross salary, line by line.
Sources
Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.
- Indice santé par année de base, be.STAT (December 2024 to September 2026), Statbel.
- Indice santé, moyennes annuelles 1994-2020, be.STAT, Statbel.
- Indice des prix à la consommation par année de base, be.STAT, Statbel.
- be.STAT : indice des prix à la consommation 1994-2020, moyennes annuelles, base 2013 = 100, Statbel.
- be.STAT : indice des prix, inflation, indice santé et indice lissé, 13 derniers mois (base 2013), Statbel.
- Indices et prix à la consommation 2004 : taux d’inflation, moyennes annuelles 1952-2004, INS (Statbel).
- Chiffres clés 2011 : inflation 2005, Statbel.
- Chiffres clés 2017 : indices des prix à la consommation (base 2013 = 100) et inflation en Belgique, 2006-2016, Statbel.
- Chiffres clés 2019 : inflation 2017 et 2018, Statbel.
- Chiffres clés 2020 : inflation 2019, Statbel.
- Chiffres clés 2021 : inflation 2020, Statbel.
- Chiffres clés 2022 : inflation 2021, Statbel.