Editing Flanders (section)

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Belgium|Flemish Diamond|Science and technology in Flanders|Agriculture in Flanders}}

[[File:Zicht op het Delwaidedok.jpg|thumb|The Port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe.]]

[[File:Lijn11 a12.jpg|thumb|The [[A12 road (Belgium)|A12]] with a railway in the centre.]]

Total [[gross regional product]] (GRP) of Flanders in 2021 was €296 billion (excluding Brussels).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tgs00003/default/table?lang=en | title=EU regions by GDP, Eurostat}}</ref> Per capita GDP at [[purchasing power parity]] was 20% above the EU average.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/10474907/1-05032020-AP-EN.pdf |title=Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018 |publisher=Eurostat |date=5 March 2020 |access-date=22 July 2021 }}</ref> Flemish productivity per capita is about 13% higher than that in Wallonia, and wages are about 7% higher than in Wallonia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=DMA28052005_007 |title=Onze Waalse collega's kunnen niet volgen |language=Dutch |date=29 May 2005 |work=Het Nieuwsblad |access-date=22 July 2021 }}</ref>

Flanders was one of the first continental European areas to undergo the [[Industrial Revolution]], in the 19th century. Initially, the modernization relied heavily on food processing and textile. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and there was famine in Flanders (1846–50). After World War II, [[Antwerp]] and [[Ghent]] experienced a fast expansion of the [[chemical]] and petroleum industries. Flanders also attracted a large majority of foreign investments in Belgium. The [[1973 oil crisis|1973]] and [[1979 oil crisis|1979 oil crises]] sent the economy into a recession. The steel industry remained in relatively good shape. In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of Belgium continued to shift further to Flanders and is now concentrated in the populous [[Flemish Diamond]] area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief ''The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective''|language=nl|author=Vanhaverbeke, Wim|url=http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264|publisher=Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, [[University of Maastricht]]|access-date=19 May 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314033239/http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264| archive-date = 14 March 2007}}</ref> Nowadays, the Flemish economy is mainly service-oriented.

Belgium is a founding member of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1951, which evolved into the present-day [[European Union]]. In 1999, the [[euro]], the single European currency, was introduced in Flanders. It replaced the [[Belgian franc]] in 2002.

The Flemish economy is strongly export-oriented, in particular of high value-added goods.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flanderstrade.com/site/internetEN.nsf/vPAG/aboutflanders__Economic?opendocument |title=Flanders: export-driven economy |access-date=26 January 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224091510/http://www.flanderstrade.com/site/internetEN.nsf/vPAG/aboutflanders__Economic?opendocument |archive-date=24 February 2017}}</ref> The main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and non-ferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market within a [[customs union|customs]] and [[currency union]]—the [[Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union]]. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and Spain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/international-trade/Development-of-a-common-agricultural-policy|title=international trade - Development of a common agricultural policy &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref>

Antwerp is the number one diamond market in the world, diamond exports account for roughly 1/10 of Belgian exports. The Antwerp-based [[BASF]] plant is the largest BASF-base outside Germany, and accounts on its own for about 2% of Belgian exports. Other industrial and service activities in Antwerp include car manufacturing, telecommunications, and photographic products.

Flanders is home to several science and technology institutes, such as [[IMEC]], VITO, Flanders DC, and [[Flanders Make]].

=== Infrastructure ===
{{Main|Transport in Belgium}}

Flanders has developed an extensive transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways and highways. The [[Port of Antwerp]] is the second-largest in Europe, after [[Port of Rotterdam|Rotterdam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portofantwerp.com/portal/page/portal/POA_EN/Focus%20op%20de%20haven/Een%20wereldhaven|title=Focus on the port|publisher=Port of Antwerp|access-date=27 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828050144/http://www.portofantwerp.com/portal/page/portal/POA_EN/Focus%20op%20de%20haven/Een%20wereldhaven|archive-date=28 August 2008}}</ref> Other ports are [[Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge|Bruges-Zeebrugge]], [[Port of Ghent|Ghent]] and [[Port of Ostend|Ostend]], of which Zeebrugge and Ostend are located at the {{interlanguage link|Belgian coast|nl|Belgische Kust}}.

Whereas railways are managed by the federal [[National Railway Company of Belgium]], other public transport ([[De Lijn]]) and roads are managed by the Flemish region.

The main airport is [[Brussels Airport]], the only other civilian airport with scheduled services in Flanders is [[Antwerp International Airport]], but there are two other ones with cargo or charter flights: [[Ostend-Bruges International Airport]] and [[Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport]], both in West Flanders.