Methodology

The EY European Attractiveness Survey draws on two main sources:

The EY European Investment Monitor (EIM)

Our evaluation of FDI in Europe is based on the EY EIM. This proprietary database helps us to track projects announced in 2025 across 47 countries. The database tracks the FDI projects that have resulted in the creation or the expansion of facilities and jobs.

The EY EIM database focuses on investment announcements, the number of new jobs created and, where identifiable, the associated capital investment. Projects are identified through the daily monitoring of more than 10,000 news sources. The EY EIM database shows the reality of investment in manufacturing and services by foreign companies across the continent.

The following categories of investment projects are excluded from the EY EIM: M&A and joint ventures (unless these result in new facilities or new jobs being created); license agreements; retail and leisure facilities; hotels and real estate; utilities; extraction activities; portfolio investments (pensions, insurance and financial funds); factory and other production replacement investments; and nonprofit organizations.

The perception survey

This study examined Belgium’s and Europe’s perceived attractiveness via an anonymous online survey of international decision-makers. We define attractiveness of a location as a combination of image, investor confidence, and the perception of a category or area’s ability to provide the most competitive benefits for FDI.

For Belgium, field research was conducted by FT Longitude between 19 February and 7 April 2026, based on a representative panel of 200 senior corporate executives (C-suite or C-1 roles). For Europe, field research was conducted by FT Longitude between 11 February and 30 March 2026, based on a representative panel of 500 senior corporate executives (C-suite or C-1 roles).

Only individuals who are involved in, or in charge of, their organization's decisions about establishing or expanding operations were included in the survey. The survey panel's demographics were based on the most recently available FDI data (2024). The survey aimed to cover a representative sample of investors into Belgium and Europe by geography, industry grouping and company size.