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Brussels — UN urban centre

1,406,499

Brussels: 1,406,499 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #358 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 1157; territory: Belgium (BEL). UN source workbook.

Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.

Source centroid: 50.8471, 4.3608. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975917,921Estimate
1980955,689Estimate
1985977,312Estimate
19901,001,648Estimate
19951,073,592Estimate
20001,122,132Estimate
20051,175,869Estimate
20101,267,289Estimate
20151,330,132Estimate
20201,381,873Estimate
20251,406,499Estimate
20301,408,699Projection
20351,411,330Projection
20401,412,673Projection
20451,413,654Projection
20501,410,018Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.

Why an urban centre is not a municipality →

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.