Life and Death in Belgium
From 1800 to the present, mortality patterns in Belgium have changed profoundly. The nineteenth century was marked by high death rates, recurrent epidemics, and social inequalities in survival, shaped by living conditions, work, gender, and access to care.
Over time, declining mortality and rising life expectancy reflected major transformations in medicine, public health, and social organisation.
Discover here how mortality risks differed between social groups and how processes of medicalisation, shifting disease patterns, and migration reshaped experiences of health and death.
Articles
Learn more about life and death in Belgium
Major Trends in Mortality
(5 articles)
Access to Medical Care
(2 articles)
The Health of Migrants
(1 article)
Major trends in mortality
From the 19th century to the present
During the nineteenth century people started dying differently then ever before. They not only died of different causes (the epidemiological transition), they also started dying later in life (the mortality transition). Find out what happens!
The epidemiological transition
For millennia the average lifespan was around 30 years. Today, in Belgium, the average life expectancy is 82.5 years. In just over two centuries, the health of Belgians has improved enormously. The causes of death have also changed; people no longer die from the same diseases today as they did in the past! Find out why!
Mortality trends by sex and age
In Belgium, people today live twice as long as they did 180 years ago. In 1840, life expectancy at birth was 40 years; in 2024, it exceeded 82 years. On a global scale, Belgium is one of the countries where people can expect to live the longest. While progress is significant, it has not been consistent. Follow along and discover which breakthroughs and which periods were crucial.
Migrants and Health
Discover how humanity shifted from infectious diseases to chronic illnesses and why this transformation reshaped life expectancy, health, and modern society.
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How healthy were migrants?
Access to
Medical Care in Belgium,
1800 - 2000
Doctors
Imagine falling ill in Belgium in 1820. Who would you trust to treat you? A village healer, a barber-surgeon, a priest, or a university-trained doctor? Read on to find out what those options entailed and how the advanced medical care Belgium has to offer today, was born.
Hospitals
Did you know that until the mid-nineteenth century, hospitals as we know them today were virtually non-existent? Medical care was mostly provided at home by family members or friends. That might actually have been good as mortality in hospitals was very high. Read on to discover why this was the case and how it changed.
The Deadliest Epidemics in Belgian History
Several major epidemics have hit Belgium over the past 200 years. Discover which diseases swept away thousands of people at once.
