Brussels metropolitan area

The Brussels metropolitan area (French: Région métropolitaine de Bruxelles; Dutch: Stedelijk gebied van Brussel) is the metropolitan area of Brussels, Belgium. Covering an area of 3,377 km² (1,304 sq mi), it extends beyond the administrative boundaries of the Brussels-Capital Region to include surrounding municipalities in the Flemish and Walloon regions. It comprises over 2.5 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium.

The largest cities or towns within the metropolitan area are Brussels, Vilvoorde, Dilbeek, Halle, Braine-l'Alleud and Grimbergen. It is also part of a large diamond-shaped conurbation, extending towards the cities of Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven, as well as the province of Walloon Brabant, in total home to over 5 million people.

Brussels forms the core of a built-up area that extends well beyond the Brussels-Capital Region's limits. Sometimes referred to as the Brussels urban area (French: aire urbaine de Bruxelles, Dutch: stedelijk gebied van Brussel), Brussels metropolitan area (French: région métropolitaine de Bruxelles, Dutch: stedelijk gebied van Brussel) or Greater Brussels (French: Grand-Bruxelles, Dutch: Groot-Brussel), this area extends over a large part of the two Brabant provinces, including much of the surrounding arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde and some small parts of the arrondissement of Leuven in Flemish Brabant, as well as the northern part of Walloon Brabant.

The metropolitan area of Brussels is divided into different levels:

Brussels is also part of a wider conurbation extending towards the cities of Ghent, Antwerp, and Leuven, known as the Flemish Diamond, as well as the province of Walloon Brabant. This area also includes the urban areas of Mechelen, Sint-Niklaas, and Aalst, as well as the small-scale urban areas of Beveren, Boom, Dendermonde, Ninove, Lier, Lokeren, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Wetteren, and Willebroek. In total, it is home to over 5 million people (a little more than 40% of the Belgium's total population), with a population density of about 820/km² (2,100/sq mi).

In 2021, Brussels' gross metropolitan product was €163.3 billion. This puts Brussels in 8th place among cities in the European Union.