Every year, Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, calculates the legal population as determined by Belgian law. For this, Statbel obtains demographic data from the National Register (RRNP). The processing of this data and the formatting of the statistics are carried out almost entirely by Statbel. The National Register is a legal instrument that has existed in Belgium since 1983 and which centralizes the population registers established in each Belgian municipality from 1846. It registers all residents of Belgium in various registers: mainly the population register and foreigners (the Belgians domiciled and foreigners to settle or stay longer than three months - in Belgium), the waiting register (political refugee candidates) and diplomatic and consular registers, as well as that of European officials and members of other institutions international organizations (NATO) and their families. The official population of Belgium, which serves as the basis for the calculations of demographic indices, includes all persons from the National Register who have their main residence in Belgium, with the exception of the waiting register.

PLEASE NOTE: In the European population statistics, asylum applicants (persons in the waiting register) are included. This is also the case for French population statistics.