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Reports


  • 30-June-2023

    English

    Strengthening the design and implementation of the standardised student assessment reform of the Flemish Community of Belgium

    The Flemish Community of Belgium has one of the OECD’s most devolved education systems, but there are concerns among Flemish education stakeholders about the overall quality of education. In recent years, the Flemish government has initiated a series of reforms to strengthen the quality of education. These include the introduction of full cohort standardised student assessments in Dutch and mathematics. Students will take the assessments in Grades 4 and 6 at the primary level and in Grades 8 and 12 at the secondary level starting in 2024. This ambitious and innovative reform aims to strengthen and monitor the quality of education, with student results envisaged to inform improvement efforts at different levels of the system. As a follow up to the support provided by the OECD Strategic Education Governance Project, the Flemish Department of Education and Training asked the OECD Implementing Education Policies Project team to support the successful design and implementation of the standardised student assessment reform. This report presents the analysis, key findings and recommendations to help realise this objective.
  • 28-June-2023

    English

    Skills and Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and their Children in Flanders

    Flanders experienced large inflows of immigrants over the past decade, coming from an increasingly diverse range of countries, with growth rates outpacing the Netherlands, France and Germany, as well as Belgium as a whole. While integration outcomes have improved in recent years, some of the core indicators remain unfavourable in international comparison, especially for non-EU immigrant women, refugees, and youth with migrant parents. Against this backdrop, Flanders has developed a comprehensive integration policy. This review, the fourth in the series Working Together for Integration, provides an in-depth analysis of the Flemish integration system, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas for improvement. Earlier reviews in this series looked at integration in Sweden (2016), Finland (2018) and Norway (2022).
  • 14-June-2023

    English

    The demand for language skills in the European labour market - Evidence from online job vacancies

    This paper investigates the demand for language skills using data on online job vacancies in 27 European Union member countries and the United Kingdom in 2021. Evidence indicates that although Europe remains a linguistically diverse labour market, knowing English confers unique advantages in certain occupations. Across countries included in the analyses, a knowledge of English was explicitly required in 22% of all vacancies and English was the sixth most required skill overall. A knowledge of German, Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese was explicitly demanded in between 1% and 2% of all vacancies. One in two positions advertised on line for managers or professionals required some knowledge of English, on average across European Union member countries and across OECD countries in the sample. This compares with only one in ten positions for skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and among elementary occupations.
  • 15-May-2023

    English

    Global Trends in Government Innovation 2023

    In the face of what has increasingly been referred to as an ongoing 'permacrisis', governments must cope with and respond to emerging threats while already grappling with longstanding issues such as climate change, digital disruption and low levels of trust. In this context, understanding new approaches and spreading successful ideas has never been more important. To promote this, the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) has analysed 1 084 innovative initiatives from 94 countries to derive and understand novel government practices. The report discusses four key trends: 1) new forms of accountability for a new era of government, 2) new approaches to care, 3) new methods for preserving identities and strengthening equity and 4) new ways of engaging citizens and residents. Ten case studies and dozens of supporting examples illustrate these trends.
  • 2-May-2023

    English

    Improving decision making through policy evaluation in Belgium

    This paper provides an analysis of the Belgian federal government’s practices regarding the institutionalisation, quality and impact of policy evaluations. The paper takes a holistic approach, which not only looks at individual practices, but also at how those can come together so that evaluation becomes an integral part of the policy cycle. Public policy evaluation promotes evidence-informed policymaking and ensures that policies improve outcomes by bringing an understanding of what works, why, for whom, and under what circumstances. Evaluation is also a core tool of sound public financial management, as it helps governments spend better and promotes accountability and transparency in spending. The paper proposes concrete policy recommendations for improving the Belgian federal government’s evaluation system.
  • 25-April-2023

    English

    Taxing Wages: Key findings for Belgium

    The tax wedge for the average single worker in Belgium increased by 0.6 percentage points from 52.4% in 2021 to 53.0% in 2022. The OECD average tax wedge in 2022 was 34.6% (2021, 34.6%).

  • 24-February-2023

    English

    Culture and the creative economy in Flanders, Belgium

    Cultural and creative sectors are a significant driver of local development both through direct job creation and income generation but also indirectly by spurring innovation across the economy. Beyond their economic impacts, they also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and well-being to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. Flanders (Belgium) has placed cultural and creative sectors as a priority in the region’s economic and social strategy. This paper provides an overview of cultural and creative sectors in Flanders, highlighting trends in employment, business dynamics, entrepreneurship and financing as well as cultural participation. It offers analysis and recommendations to support the region in continuing to build on its local cultural and creative ecosystem.
  • 1-February-2023

    English

    EU Country Cancer Profile: Belgium 2023

    This profile identifies strengths, challenges and specific areas of action on cancer prevention and care in Belgium as part of the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, a flagship initiative of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. It provides a short synthesis of: the national cancer burden; risk factors for cancer (focusing on behavioural and environmental risk factors); early detection programmes; and cancer care performance (focusing on accessibility, care quality, costs and the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care).
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  • 30-November-2022

    English

    Revenue Statistics: Key findings for Belgium

    The OECD’s annual Revenue Statistics report found that the tax-to-GDP ratio in Belgium decreased by 0.5 percentage points from 42.5% in 2020 to 42.0% in 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, the OECD average increased from 33.6% to 34.1%.

  • 15-November-2022

    English

    Swimming skills around the world - Evidence on inequalities in life skills across and within countries

    Being able to swim empowers individuals to make choices, have agency, and be free to choose core aspects of their life, such as working safely on or near water. It is also associated with lifelong health benefits and reduces the risk of drowning. Using data from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll 2019, this paper provides the first global estimates of adults’ ability to swim without assistance. Individuals in high-income countries are considerably more likely to report being able to swim without assistance than individuals in low-income countries. Disparities also exist within countries. In particular, women are less likely to be able to swim without assistance than men in virtually all countries, birth cohorts, and levels of education. Investing in reducing inequalities in life skills, such as swimming, can foster economic development and empowerment, especially in light of threats, such as climate change.
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