The FSMA has published a new edition of its Retail Investment Dashboard. This publication provides a quarterly overview of the behaviour of Belgian retail investors.
Increased investor activity in the fourth quarter of 2025
In the fourth quarter of 2025, about 233,000 Belgian retail investors traded in shares. In addition, 136,000 Belgian retail investors traded in ETFs and 32,000 in bonds in the same period. In comparison with the previous quarter, these figures indicate an increase in the number of active investors in all three types of instruments. The number of active investors in both shares and ETFs reached a 5-year high.
During the fourth quarter of 2025, 21,000, 24,000 and 9,000 Belgian retail investors traded for the first time in shares, ETFs or bonds, respectively. Other than in the third quarter, the number of new investors in ETFs was higher in 2025 than the number of new investors in shares.
The increase in investor activity also led to a rise in the number of transactions carried out in shares, ETFs and bonds. In all, Belgian retail investors carried out more than 1.8 million transactions in shares during the fourth quarter of 2025. Furthermore, about 502,000 ETF transactions and 41,000 bond transactions were carried out. The number of ETF transactions was up by 35 per cent, in comparison with the third quarter of 2025. The increase in the number of bond transactions can be explained by a bond issue that was addressed to retail investors.