The FSMA has published a new edition of its Retail Investor Dashboard. This publication provides an overview of the behaviour of Belgian retail investors for each quarter. This edition contains data on the first and the second quarters of 2026. In what follows, we provide a summary of the most important developments.
Slight fall in investor interest in the second quarter of 2026
In the second quarter of 2026, about 230,000 Belgian retail investors traded in shares; in addition, 179,000 Belgian retail investors invested in ETFs and 15,000 in bonds. These figures indicate a decrease in the number of active investors in all three types of instruments, as compared to the first quarter. A similar decrease occurred in past years as well, and may be due to a seasonal effect.
During the first half of 2026, the number of investors who traded in ETFs for the first time was significantly higher than in the second half of 2025. During the second quarter of 2026, 20,000, 28,000 and 4,000 Belgian retail investors respectively invested for the first time in shares, ETFs or bonds.
The decrease in the number of active investors has also resulted in a fall in the number of transactions carried out in the three types of instruments. In relative terms, the decrease in the number of transactions was the lowest for ETFs and the highest for bonds. In all, Belgian retail investors carried out more than 1.68 million share transactions during the second quarter of 2026. In addition, around 722,000 ETF transactions and 23,000 bond transactions were carried out. In comparison with the last quarter of 2025, the number of ETF transactions rose by more than 40 percent. This sharp increase can be attributed to the inclusion of an extra reporting entity.
The number of investors active per year increases further
In 2025, a total of slightly more than 510,000 Belgian retail investors traded in shares, ETFs or bonds: 397,000 in shares, 231,000 in ETFs and 63,000 in bonds. The increase in the number of active investors in comparison to the previous years is partly the result of the gradual increase in the number of reporting entities.
As in previous years, about one-third of the investors were female. One-third of the active investors were under 40 years of age, and around one-third were older than 60. Both for shares and for ETFs, the increase in the number of active investors was sharpest among young people.
More new ETF investors than new investors in shares
In line with previous years, about 60 percent of all investors in shares active in 2025 were 50 years of age or older. The median age of investors in shares was 54 years in 2025. In 2025, 83,000 Belgian retail investors traded for the first time in shares via a broker supervised by the FSMA. Their median age was 45.
Nearly half of all investors in ETFs were under the age of 40 in 2025. The median age of investors in ETFs was 43 years in 2025. ETFs thus continue to attract younger investors, although there is also increasing activity among older investors. In 2025, 96,000 Belgian retail investors traded for the first time in ETFs via a broker supervised by the FSMA. Their median age was 39.