Belgium doesn’t speak one single language: it has three official languages – Dutch, French, and German – spoken in different regions of the country.

Quick Scoop

  • Dutch (often called “Flemish” in Belgium) – main language in the north (Flanders); about 55% of Belgians speak it as a mother tongue.
  • French – main language in the south (Wallonia) and in Brussels; about 36% speak it as a mother tongue, and it’s widely used as a second language.
  • German – spoken by a small community (around 1%) in the east of Wallonia, near the German border.

How the languages are distributed

Belgium is divided into four language areas :

  1. Flemish Region – Dutch only
  2. Walloon Region – mostly French, with a small German-speaking area
  3. Brussels-Capital Region – officially bilingual (French and Dutch), but French is more common in daily life.
  1. German-speaking Community – German only, in the east of Wallonia.

In schools, the main languages taught are French and Dutch , so many Belgians are bilingual or even trilingual.

Other languages people hear in Belgium

Besides the three official languages, there are:

  • Regional dialects such as Walloon, Picard, and Limburgish.
  • Immigrant languages including Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic (Maghrebi and Rifian), Greek, Polish, Portuguese , and others.
  • English , which is not official but widely understood, especially in cities, tourism, business, and international contexts; around 55% of Belgians speak it as a second language.

What this means for visitors

  • In Flanders : use Dutch if you can; English usually works.
  • In Wallonia : use French; English is common in tourist areas.
  • In Brussels : French is dominant, but Dutch and English are also very common.
  • In the German-speaking area : German is used locally, but French and Dutch are often understood too.

So, if you ask “what does Belgium speak?”, the short answer is: Dutch, French, and German , with many people also speaking English and other languages due to the country’s strong multilingualism.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.