Van den Broeck believes that speaking Dutch is important in this. As Flemish people, “Dutch is part of our DNA,” he said.

Migration triggers shifts

“Brussels has always been a multilingual city because its center is located on the border between Roman and German-speaking regions,” said VUB researcher Saeys.

Waves of immigration after the Second World War contributed to Belgium, and especially Brussels, becoming more multicultural. The first two were when Belgium brought in migrant workers from the Mediterranean and then the Maghreb to work in the mines.

The third and last one took place when Brussels became the capital of the European Union. This attracted not only immigrants from Eastern Europe but also other expatriates, especially after the eastward expansion of the EU. They looked for jobs in EU institutions and relevant non-governmental organizations, think tanks, consultancies, in other words, in the so-called Brussels bubble.

The language study, which surveyed 2,500 households in the Belgian capital Brussels, also reflects increasing linguistic diversity: The total number of languages ​​spoken increased from 72 in 2001 to 104 in 2024.

“Brussels is growing primarily due to internationalization,” Saeys said. “At this point, 75 percent of the people living in Brussels are of foreign origin.”