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Dans un souci de transparence et d’information, le BFP publie régulièrement les méthodes et résultats de ses travaux. Les publications sont organisées en séries, entre autres, les perspectives, les working papers et planning papers. Certains rapports peuvent également être consultés ici, de même que les bulletins du Short Term Update publiés jusqu’en 2015. Une recherche par thématique, type de publication, auteur et année vous est proposée.
The new Economic outlook for Belgium for the period 2011-2016 is based on a context that is characterised by a stronger-than-expected recovery of the world economy, spurred on in particular by the Asian emerging economies and the US economy. Three main risks could undermine this international scenario: the budgetary position of several countries and the financial risks that this may entail; the volatility of commodity prices; and the overheating of several emerging economies.
Belgian GDP growth should amount to 2.2% in 2011 and in 2012, affirming its outperformance compared to the euro area since the start of the crisis. This growth rate should persist in the medium term. In 2011 and 2012, domestic demand growth should accelerate, backed by private consumption and business investment. Public investment should be highly dynamic in the run-up to the local elections of 2012. After an impressive increase in 2010, exports are expected to increase at a slower pace in 2011 and 2012 due to the deceleration in world trade growth. From 2013 onwards, growth in domestic demand and exports should remain close to historical average rates.
Belgian inflation should accelerate considerably in 2011 (3.5%), mainly due to a steep increase in raw material prices. Without new shocks on commodity prices, inflation should stabilise around 2% in the medium term.
Belgian employment coped remarkably well with the crisis. The rise in employment in the enterprise sector in 2010 (+27 000 persons) had already compensated for the decline in 2009. This performance seems to be related mainly to the so-called temporary unemployment system and the further increase in the number of people working in the government-subsidised voucher programme for domestic-type services. From 2011 onwards, employment in the enterprise sector should increase by roughly 46 000 persons per year. The number of unemployed should decline by 8 000 units in 2011 and by 3 000 units in 2012, followed by a strengthening in the annual decline in unemployment of up to 16 000 persons in 2016. The unemployment rate (broad administrative definition) should fall from 12.6% of the labour force in 2010 to 11% at the end of the projection period.
The general government deficit amounted to 4.1% of GDP in 2010 and should shrink to 3.8% of GDP in 2011, taking into account the budget information up to mid-April. Under a constant policy assumption, the public deficit should increase significantly in 2012 (4.4% of GDP) and decline gradually from 2013 onwards to reach 3.6% of GDP in 2016. The deficit reduction path, which aims to achieve a balanced budget in 2015, requires structural consolidation measures amounting to 17 billion euro.
STU 2-11 was finalised on 1 June 2011.
Séries clôturées - Short Term Update 02-11 (en),
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic outlook 2011-2016 (fr), (nl),
En application de la loi du 21 décembre 1994, l’Institut des comptes nationaux (ICN) a communiqué au ministre pour l’Entreprise et la Simplification les chiffres du budget économique. Selon la procédure prévue, le Bureau fédéral du Plan (BFP) a soumis une proposition de budget économique au comité scientifique et au conseil d’administration de l’ICN. Cette dernière instance adopte les chiffres définitifs et en porte la responsabilité finale. Le comité scientifique a émis un avis favorable sur le budget économique.
Les présentes prévisions tiennent compte des agrégats annuels publiés dans la Partie 2 des Comptes nationaux 2009 (« Comptes détaillés et tableaux ») et des agrégats trimestriels publiés jusqu’au troisième trimestre 2010.
Les hypothèses concernant l’environnement international sont basées sur des prévisions consensus récentes (The Economist) et sur les estimations trimestrielles du commerce mondial de biens effectuées par le Centraal Planbureau néerlandais. L’évolution des variables financières (taux de change, taux d’intérêt, prix du pétrole) reflète les anticipations des marchés financiers à la mi‐janvier. Les prévisions pour la Belgique ont été générées au moyen des versions trimestrielle et annuelle du modèle Modtrim développé par le BFP. Ces prévisions ont été finalisées le 25 janvier 2011.
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic forecasts 2011 (fr), (nl),
In October, the FPB prepared an update of its medium-term economic outlook of May 2010. This new outlook covers a longer period (2010-2020) than usual because it was drawn up in the framework of the macroeconomic surveillance process under the Europe 2020 Strategy, with a view to the preparation of the draft Belgian National Reform Programme.
This new outlook for Belgium is based on an international context that is marked by a recovery that should emerge in 2010-2011 and even gain momentum in the medium term. Nevertheless, the uncertainty surrounding these forecasts continues to be higher than before the financial crisis. Large budget deficits and global imbalances continue to threaten the stability of worldwide economic growth.
Yearly Belgian economic growth should amount to approximately 1.8% in 2010 and 2011 (based on our September forecast described in STU 3-10) and fluctuate around 2% thereafter. After a sharp decline in 2009, domestic demand has been expected to rise again in 2010, despite the on-going fall in business investment. As of 2011, domestic demand should rise at an average yearly rate of 1.8% as its various components regain their trend-based growth. Belgian exports, which fell by 11% in 2009, have recovered significantly in 2010. Thereafter, exports should grow at a rate close to its historical average. The contribution of net exports to GDP growth should be positive for the whole projection period (0.3-0.4 %-points on average for 2012-2020). Employment seems to have already experienced a moderate recovery in 2010.
Employment should increase further in 2011 and 2012, but at a limited pace as employers try to push up labour productivity and average working time from the historically very low levels that they reached in 2009. From 2013 to 2015, employment growth should become more sustained before gradually dropping again towards the end of the forecast. Employment as a percentage of the population aged between 20 and 64 years should initially fall from 68% in 2008 to 66.9% in 2010, but should recover to 68.2% in 2015 and 69.8% in 2020, a rate still well below the 75% target set by the EU. Unemployment (broad administrative definition) is expected to peak in 2012 at a level that is 103 000 units higher than in 2008. From 2013 onwards, unemployment should slowly decline and reach 591 000 units in 2020.
The general government budget deficit should shrink from 6% of GDP in 2009 to 4.8% of GDP in 2010, 4.6% in 2011 and 4.5% in 2012. Thereafter, the deficit should remain almost constant up to 2020. A further and considerable fiscal adjustment is thus necessary to cut back the deficit to 3% of GDP in 2012 and achieve a balanced budget in 2015 in accordance with the Stability Programme of January 2010.
STU 04-10 was finalised on 22 December 2010.
Séries clôturées - Short Term Update 04-10 (en),
The Federal Planning Bureau took part, in collaboration with the German institute DIW Berlin, in a technical assistance project financed by the European Commission aimed at developing different modelling approaches for the economy of Lesotho, a small country landlocked within the territory of South Africa. In the context of this project a macro-econometric model was elaborated. This Working Paper describes the main characteristics and the behavioural equations of this model and discusses a baseline simulation and an alternative scenario aimed at reducing up to 2012 the expected public deficit.
Articles - Article 2010110301
Le Bureau fédéral du Plan a participé, conjointement avec l’institut allemand DIW Berlin, à un projet d’assistance technique visant à développer différents approches de modélisation de l’économie du Lesotho, un petit pays enclavé dans l’Afrique du Sud. Le présent Working Paper décrit les principales caractéristiques du modèle macro-économétrique élaboré dans le cadre de ce projet. La stratégie de modélisation repose sur les complémentarités et interactions avec la méthode dite de « Programmation financière », mise en œuvre par d’autres partenaires du projet. Par ailleurs, le document présente un scénario de référence jusqu’à l’année budgétaire 2012/13 ainsi qu’un scénario alternatif dans lequel les dépenses publiques sont réduites en réponse à la baisse anticipée des recettes de droits de douane.
Le Working Paper n’est disponible qu’en langue anglaise.
Working Papers - Working Paper 17-10 (en),
Ce rapport présente les résultats de la désagrégation régionale des perspectives économiques nationales du Bureau fédéral du Plan pour la période 2009-2015. Tout comme pour les études précédentes, le rapport est le fruit d’une collaboration entre le Bureau fédéral du Plan et les services d’étude des trois Régions belges (IBSA, IWEPS et SVR). Rappelons que cette collaboration, entamée fin 2005, a permis de développer le modèle multirégional et multisectoriel HERMREG, modèle qui peut être classé dans la catégorie des modèles macroéconométriques de type top-down. HERMREG4 s’articule entièrement avec le modèle national HERMES développé par le Bureau fédéral du Plan. Cela signifie que les projections nationales de moyen terme d’HERMES sont réparties au niveau des entités considérées sur base de clés régionales endogènes.
Autres publications - OPHERMREG1001 (fr), (nl),
The new medium-term outlook for Belgium is based on an international context that is marked by a stronger-than-expected recovery, particularly spurred on by the large Asian emerging economies and the American economy. Nevertheless, the uncertainty surrounding these forecasts continues to be higher than before the financial crisis. The important budget deficits and global trade and capital flow imbalances continue to threat the stability of worldwide economic growth.
The yearly growth of the Belgian economy should amount to 1.4% in 2010 and 1.7% in 2011 and exceed 2% in 2012-2015. After a sharp decline in 2009, domestic demand should start rising again in 2010, despite the ongoing fall in business investment. As of 2011, domestic demand should rise at an average yearly rate of just above 2% as its various components regain their trend-based growth. Belgian exports, which fell by 11% in 2009, are expected to recover from 2010 onwards. The contribution of net exports to GDP growth should be largely positive in 2010 (+0.7%-points) and weaken from 2011 onwards (+0.2%-points on average) due to the acceleration in domestic demand.
Belgian inflation should not exceed 2% on a yearly basis as the limited increase in nominal unit labour costs (average annual growth of 1% during the period 2010-2015) should keep underlying inflation in check. However, this limited increase masks a decline in 2010 followed by a gradual acceleration to 2% in 2015.
Employment should decline by 33 000 units in 2010 and increase by as little as 7 000 units in 2011. As economic growth accelerates in 2012-2015, employment should expand by nearly 50 000 persons per year on average. Employment as a percentage of the population aged between 20 and 64 years, should initially fall from 68% in 2008 to 66.3% in 2010 but should recover to 67.7% in 2015, a rate still far below the 75% target set by the EU. In 2012, unemployment (broad administrative definition) is expected to peak at a level that is 128 000 units higher than in 2008. From 2013 onwards, unemployment should slowly decline and reach 698 000 units in 2015.
The general government budget deficit should shrink from 5.9% of GDP in 2009 to 4.8% of GDP in 2010. However, under the assumption of constant policy, the deficit should again exceed 5% of GDP from 2011 onwards. A further and considerable fiscal adjustment is thus necessary to cut back the deficit to 3% of GDP in 2012 and achieve a balanced budget in 2015 in accordance with the Stability Programme of January 2010.
STU 2-10 was finalised on 1 June 2010.
Séries clôturées - Short Term Update 02-10 (en),
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic outlook 2010-2015 (fr), (nl),
Cette étude analyse les effets qu'aurait la Coupe du monde de football de 2018 sur les dépenses économiques. Celles-ci concernent surtout les investissements dans les stades et les dépenses touristiques des visiteurs, mais aussi celles liées aux équipes étrangères, aux médias, à l'organisation et à la sécurité. Au total, les dépenses s'élèveraient à 1,15 milliard d'euros, sur 8 ans, avec un large intervalle de fiabilité.
L'impact de ces dépenses sur l'activité économique est calculé au moyen de deux modèles économiques : un modèle input-output et le modèle macroéconomique HERMES. L'impact serait de l'ordre de 0,13% du PIB en 2018. Sur le plan de l'emploi, entre 450 et 700 emplois supplémentaires seraient créés annuellement au cours de la phase préparatoire du tournoi. Pendant le tournoi même, on table sur un équivalent de 4000 à 8000 personnes-année.
En juillet 2010, cette étude a été critiquée. Ces critiques peuvent être réfutées en de nombreux points. Pour en savoir plus, cliquez ici.
Working Papers - Working Paper 08-10 (en), (mix),
Ces prévisions ont été finalisées le 10 février 2010.
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic forecasts 2010-2011 (2) (fr), (nl),
This study is devoted to the analysis of the main effects on the Belgian economy, for the period 2010-2020, of various forms of tax-shifting aimed at increasing taxes on energy and, simultaneously, decreasing other forms of taxation. All these variants have been simulated using the FPB’s medium-term model for Belgian economy (HERMES).
Articles - Article 2009122102
In view of the new round of stability and convergence programmes (SCP) by the EMU member states, the FPB transmitted a medium-term outlook for the Belgian economy to the federal government. In this outlook, the short-term international assumptions are based on the November forecasts of the EC. These assumptions result in a gradual recovery of Belgian GDP in 2010 (0.8%) and 2011 (1.6%), after a decline of 3.1% in 2009. More information on this simulation can be found on pages 5-6.
As world trade appears to recover at a faster pace than expected in the EC outlook, the FPB produced a technical update of the SCP-simulation. This second simulation results in relatively stronger Belgian economic growth in 2010 and 2011 (1.1% and 1.7% respectively). From 2012 to 2014 economic growth is expected to be 2.1% on average, which might not be sufficient to close the output gap by 2014. Comments in the next paragraphs are based on this exercise.
Private demand was heavily affected by the financial and economic crisis. Private consumption suffered from a lack of confidence which brought an important increase along in the savings rate in 2009. In the medium term, consumption growth should gradually recover but remain below 2%. Gross fixed capital formation plummeted in 2009 and is unlikely to recover soon as idle production capacity is still abundant. From 2011 to 2014, average investment growth should amount to 2.1%. Exports declined by more than 10% in 2009, but should recover from 2010 onwards and reach an average growth rate of 4.4% from 2011 to 2014.
As employment typically reacts with a lag to the business cycle, the decrease in employment should even be stronger in 2010 than in 2009, before increasing gradually from 2011 onwards. The (broad administrative) unemployment rate should increase by 2.5 percentage points in 3 years and reach 14.3% in 2011. From 2012 onwards the unemployment rate should diminish somewhat, but total administrative unemployment should still amount to more than 730 000 persons in 2014 (130 000 persons more than in 2008).
Due to the recession the public deficit increased to 5.8% of GDP in 2009. Under an unchanged policy assumption the net public financing requirement should decline by 0.6% of GDP in 2010 and roughly stabilise somewhat below 5.5% in the medium term.
STU 04-09 was finalised on 21 December 2009.
Séries clôturées - Short Term Update 04-09 (en),
Cette étude vise essentiellement à analyser les principaux effets sur l’économie belge d’aménagements fiscaux englobant une hausse des taxes sur l’énergie et une baisse d’autres prélèvements (surtout sur le travail). Les résultats mettent en avant un double dividende (augmentation de l’emploi et baisse de la consommation d’énergie et des émissions des CO2) si la hausse des taxes sur l’énergie va effectivement de pair avec une baisse des prélèvements sur le travail.
Working Papers - Working Paper 11-09 (fr),
En application de la loi du 21 décembre 1994, l’Institut des comptes nationaux (ICN) a commu-niqué au ministre pour l’Entreprise et la Simplification les chiffres du budget économique. Selon la procédure prévue, le Bureau fédéral du Plan (BFP) a soumis une proposition de budget économique au comité scientifique et au conseil d’administration de l’ICN. Cette dernière instance adopte les chiffres définitifs et en porte la responsabilité finale. Le comité scientifique a émis un avis favorable sur le budget économique.
Les présentes prévisions tiennent compte des agrégats annuels publiés dans la Partie 1 des Comptes nationaux 2008 (" Première estimation des comptes annuels ") et des agrégats trimestriels publiés jusqu’au premier trimestre 2009.
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic forecasts 2010-2011 (fr), (nl),
The concepts of potential growth and the output gap are important tools, respectively, for assessing the supply- side capacity of an economy and evaluating the state of the business cycle. They have also become an essential ingredient of the European fiscal surveillance process. In this Working Paper we compare, in the context of the financial crisis, revisions of potential output for Belgium made recently by the Federal Planning Bureau and international organizations. Those comparisons aim at highlighting the uncertainty associated with those revisions as well as having a better understanding of some of the channels through which the crisis may reduce potential output.
Articles - Article 2009100606
Les concepts de croissance potentielle et d’output gap constituent des outils importants pour évaluer la position cyclique d’une économie et sa capacité productive. Ils sont devenus par ailleurs des ingrédients essentiels du processus de surveillance budgétaire européen. Toutefois, la crise que traverse actuellement l’économie mondiale est sans précédent et l’incertitude concernant l’ampleur et la durée des effets de la crise sur le potentiel des économies est par conséquent énorme. Le présent Working Paper a pour objectif de comparer les révisions opérées récemment par le Bureau fédéral du Plan et les institutions internationales dans l’évaluation du potentiel de croissance de l’économie belge. Ces comparaisons visent à mettre en lumière le degré d’incertitude qui entoure ces révisions et également à mieux comprendre les mécanismes par lesquels la crise affecte le PIB potentiel.
Working Papers - Working Paper 10-09 (fr),
Ce rapport présente les résultats de la désagrégation régionale des perspectives économiques nationales du Bureau fédéral du Plan pour la période 2008-2014. Il s’agit de la troisième édition de ces perspectives. Tout comme pour les études précédentes, le rapport est le fruit d’une collaboration entre le Bureau fédéral du Plan et les services d’étude des trois Régions belges (IBSA, IWEPS et SVR).
Autres publications - OPHERMREG0901 (fr), (nl),
The new medium-term economic outlook for Belgium has been drawn up in an international context that is heavily influenced by the financial crisis and the deep economic recession this has brought about. Belgian GDP should fall by nearly 4% in 2009, followed by zero growth in 2010 as the crisis subsides. In the wake of a worldwide recovery, Belgian GDP growth should start accelerating from 2011 onwards, resulting in average growth for the period 2011-2014 (2.3%) that is similar to the average of the past twenty years. Note that the global economic situation is beset with many uncertainties and, therefore, the outlook is surrounded with considerable risks, especially for the short term.
Households are expected to raise their precautionary savings dramatically in 2009, thus lowering their consumption compared to last year (-0.6%). Strongly unfavourable demand prospects, combined with a sharp drop in profitability and deteriorated external financing conditions will lead to a sharp contraction in business investment (-7.5%). Domestic demand should recover slightly in 2010 and more markedly from 2011 onwards. The volume of Belgian exports is expected to go down for two years in a row (-8.9% in 2009 and -0.6% in 2010) and the contribution of net exports to GDP growth should be largely negative. From 2011, Belgian export growth should be close to its historical growth rate (4.8%). After a peak in 2008 (4.5%), the inflation rate should fall to 0.3% on average in 2009. In the medium term, inflation is expected to pick up again, but to remain below 2%.
The effects on employment of the sudden fall in activity should materialise progressively: domestic employment should drop on average by 37 000 jobs this year and by 53 000 jobs next year. The recovery in 2011 should not be labour-intensive and employment is only expected to increase significantly from 2012 onwards (by a little more than 43 000 jobs a year on average). This evolution of employment, combined with an increase in the labour supply, should lead to a rise in unemployment of 194 000 units from 2009 to 2011. In the next three years, the unemployment rate (broad administrative definition) should go up from 11.8% to 15.2%. As from 2012, the unemployment rate should gradually decrease to reach 14.5% in 2014.
Under the assumption of constant policy, public sector accounts are expected to deteriorate markedly, with a net public financing requirement of 4.3% of GDP in 2009, widening to 5.6% of GDP in 2010. The end of the recession will not lead to a reduction in the deficit, which should peak at 6.1% of GDP in 2012 before slightly improving afterwards. As a result, Belgian public debt should again experience a snowball effect, going up from 89.3% of GDP in 2008 to 106% of GDP in 2014.
STU 2-09 was finalised on 27 May 2009
Séries clôturées - Short Term Update 02-09 (en),
Ce working paper analyse l’évolution récente des parts de marché à l’exportation de la Belgique, de la compétitivité et de la balance des opérations courantes. La première partie décrit les évolutions récentes alors que la deuxième tente d’en expliquer les causes.
Working Papers - Working Paper 06-09 (nl),
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic outlook 2009-2014 (fr), (nl),
Plusieurs missions légales récurrentes du BFP requièrent l'élaboration de scénarios macroéconomiques de long terme pour l'économie belge. Afin d'accroître la cohérence de ces scénarios et les inscrire dans un cadre théorique rigoureux, il est apparu indispensable de doter le BFP d'un modèle de long terme dans lequel la croissance économique dépende de l'évolution de l'offre de facteurs de production.
Ce modèle a été construit en s'inspirant de travaux similaires réalisés par le CPB néerlandais; la publication en détaille la construction, les propriétés et les estimations réalisées sur base des données de la comptabilité nationale belge. Ce modèle devrait par exemple contribuer à développer les scénarios macroéconomiques des projections de long terme destinées à évaluer les conséquences budgétaires du vieillissement.
Working Papers - Working Paper 03-09 (fr),
Ces prévisions ont été finalisées le 11 février 2009.
Prévisions & perspectives - Economic forecasts 2009 (2) (fr), (nl),
A la demande des autorités fédérale et régionales de l’environnement, le Bureau fédéral du Plan a évalué les conséquences énergétiques et économiques pour la Belgique du paquet Energie-Climat présenté par la Commission européenne le 23 janvier 2008. Le paquet Energie-Climat fait suite à la décision du Conseil européen de mars 2007 de fixer des objectifs précis au niveau européen pour les émissions de gaz à effet de serre et les sources d’énergie renouvelables, à savoir réduire de 20 % les émissions de gaz à effet de serre d'ici 2020, voire une réduction de 30 % en cas d'accord international sur la question et porter la part des sources d’énergie renouvelables dans la consommation énergétique à 20 % d’ici 2020. Le paquet Energie-Climat propose, entre autres, un partage de l’effort entre les Etats membres, des mesures concrètes et des modalités de mise en oeuvre pour atteindre les objectifs. Ce sont ces propositions, appliquées à la Belgique, qui ont fait l’objet d’une évaluation.
Working Papers - Working Paper 21-08 (en),
The FPB has revised its medium-term outlook for 2008-2013 for the Belgian economy. For the 2008-2010 period, the outlook adopts the international economic scenario provided by the OECD outlook of November 2008. The uncertainty surrounding the results is exceptionally large and downside risks could prove to be greater than upside risks. The greatest downside risks include a longer than expected period of distress on financial markets, and that emerging markets could be hit harder than anticipated.
The outlook for Belgium shows average GDP growth reaching only 1.5% during the period 2008-2013 (1.9% for the period 2001-2007). This relatively weak performance is largely explained by weak GDP growth in 2008 (1.4%), a fall in economic growth next year (-0.3%) and a limited recovery in 2010. Over the period 2011-2013, GDP growth is expected to stabilise at a rate slightly above 2%, which might not allow the output gap to be completely closed by the end of the projection.
After dynamic growth in 2007, private consumption expansion should be much more limited in 2008 and 2009. From 2010 onwards, household demand growth should increase gradually and then stabilise at a rate close to 2%. After dynamic growth in 2008, gross fixed capital formation should slightly decrease in 2009, before recovering in 2010 and increasing by 2.4% on average during the 2011-2013 period. Given the unfavourable international environment next year, exports are expected to decrease in 2009. Over the period 2010-2013, exports should increase by 4.4% on average and the contribution of net exports to GDP growth is expected to be slightly positive.
The worsening of the economic situation should lead to a decrease in employment in 2009. In the medium term, employment should increase again, at a yearly rate reaching 0.8% at the end of the projection. With employment growth heavily affected by the adverse economic situation in the short run and in view of the increase in the labour force, the unemployment rate (broad definition) will soar to 12.9% by 2010 (against 11.9% in 2008), before levelling off at around 13.2% from 2011 onwards. Total administrative unemployment should stand at almost 700,000 persons in 2013 (65,000 persons more than in 2007).
Under the assumption of unchanged policy, the public accounts are expected to deteriorate markedly, with a net public financing requirement of 1.6% of GDP in 2009, 2.4% in 2010 and up to 2.6% in 2011-2013.
STU 04-08 was finalised on 11 December 2008.
Séries clôturées - Short Term Update 04-08 (en),
Bureau fédéral du Plan
