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Years Lived with Disability

  1. Key messages
  2. Years Lived with Disability
  3. Read more

All estimates can be consulted in more detail in our interactive online applications:
Estimates of mortality and years of life lost for 131 causes of death
Estimates of the non-fatal burden of 56 cancer types
Estimates of the burden of 38 key diseases
Estimates of projected non-fatal burden of 33 causes

1. Key messages

  • In 2022, the considered 38 key diseases led to a loss of 1.1 million healthy life years due to a reduced quality of life as a result of living with a disability.
  • Mental and substance use disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurological disorders were the leading causes of disease burden due to reduced quality of life in Belgium.
  • The total disease burden in 2022 due to reduced quality of life was 3% higher in women compared to men.
  • The largest share of the disease burden due to reduced quality of life in 2022 was borne by youngsters and adults between 15 and 44 years old.
  • The total disease burden due to reduced quality of life was the highest in the Walloon Region, followed by the Brussels Capital Region, and the Flemish Region.
  • Among EU-14 countries, Belgium ranks 6th worst in terms of disease burden due to reduced quality of life.

2. Years Lived with Disability

Belgium loses 1.1 million healthy life years in 2022

In 2022, the considered 38 key diseases led to a loss of 1,142,198 healthy life years (9,873 YLDs per 100,000) due to reduced quality of life (YLDs). Mental and substance use disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurological disorders were the leading disease groups, accounting for more than 80% of the total disease burden due to reduced quality of life. The top 5 specific causes for YLDs were depression (16%), low back pain (13%), alcohol use disorders (11%), neck pain (8%) and drug use disorders (8%).

Distribution of Years Lived with Disability by disease, Belgium, 2022
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

The total disease burden in 2022 due to reduced quality of life was 3% higher in women compared to men.  The age-adjusted YLDs equaled 9,702 per 100,000 men, and 10,016 per 100,000 women. In men, the three leading causes for YLDs were alcohol use (1,520 YLDs per 100,000), depression (1,325 YLDs per 100,000), and low back pain (1,240 YLDs per 100,000) whereas in women, the three leading specific causes were depression (1,789 YLDs per 100,000), low back pain (1,374 YLDs per 100,000), and neck pain (1,013 YLDs per 100,000).

Distribution of age-adjusted YLD rates by sex and disease group, Belgium, 2022
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

In Belgium, the disease burden due to reduced quality of life is largely borne by the youngsters and adults. The majority (34%) of YLDs in the Belgian population are attributable to Belgians with an age between 15 and 44 years (53,314 YLDs per 100,000), followed by the group with an age between 45 and 64 years, where a total of 48,446 YLDs per 100,000, (33%) were lost in 2022. Among Belgians who are between 65 and 84 years old, 61,961 years were lost due to reduced quality of life per 100,000 (27%). The oldest group (85 years and older) accounted for 6% of the total amount of YLDs, while the youngest group (< 15 years) accounted for 1% of the total amount of YLDs. The leading specific causes with the highest impact in terms of YLDs per 100,000 were vision loss and epilepsy in children with an age < 5 year, epilepsy and anxiety disorders in children aged between 5 to 14 years, depression and alcohol use disorders in youngsters and adults with an age between 15 to 44 year, depression and low back pain in adults with an age between 45 and 84, and low back pain and osteoarthritis in elderly with an age of 85 years and older.

Distribution of YLD rates by age and disease group, Belgium, 2022
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

The Walloon and Brussels Capital Regions have the highest burden

After correcting for differences in population size and age structure, the disease burden in terms of reduced quality of life is the highest in the Walloon Region (11,678 YLDs per 100,000), followed by the Brussels Capital Region (10,489 YLDs per 100,000), and the Flemish Region (8,794 YLDs per 100,000). The leading cause groups are identical among regions.

Ranking of disease groups by age-adjusted YLD rates, Belgium and regions, 2022
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

The burden remains stable over time

Looking at trends over time after correcting for the population size and age structure, the disease burden due to reduced quality of life of the leading diseases has remained stable over the years. The disease burden of mental and substance use disorders went from 4,148 YLDs per 100,000 in 2013 to 4,421 YLDs per 100,000 in 2022. The disease burden of musculoskeletal disorders went from 2,655 YLDs per 100,000 in 2013 to 2,950 YLDs per 100,000 in 2022.

Distribution of age-adjusted YLD rates by year and disease group, Belgium, 2013-2022
Source: Own calculations based on data from IMA, Intego, ERA, HIS, Belgian Cancer Registry and Statbel [1-6]

Belgium scores poorly among EU-14 countries

In 2021, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study [7] the estimated total YLDs in Belgium was above the EU-14 countries mean, ranking the country 6th worst among the EU-14.

Age-adjusted YLD rate per 100,000, by country of residence (EU-14), 2021
Source: GBD 2021 study [7]

3. Read more

Belgian Burden of Disease visualization tool
Belgian national burden of disease study. Guidelines for the calculation of DALYs in Belgium, June 2025
Download Summary Table (.xlsx) 488 KB

Background

What are the most important diseases in Belgium? Which risk factors contribute most to the overall disease burden? How is the burden of disease evolving over time, and how does it compare with neighboring countries? To address these basic questions, Sciensano conducts a national burden of disease study, in which the population impact for 38 key diseases in Belgium is evaluated.

The burden of disease in terms of reduced quality of life as a result of living with a disability is quantified using the Years Lived with Disability (YLD) metric. The YLD is a measure of the non-fatal disease burden in a specific population. YLDs are calculated by multiplying the number of prevalent cases with the (severity-weighted) disability weight, which reflects the relative reduction in quality of life lost due to living with the disease.

We calculate disease burden estimates by age, sex and region, allowing for a very detailed assessment of the state of health. The complete set of estimates can be explored via https://burden.sciensano.be/shiny/daly.

Definitions

YLD
The Years Lived with Disability or YLDs in short is a measure of the non-fatal disease burden in a specific population. YLDs are calculated by multiplying the number of prevalent cases with the (severity-weighted) disability weight, which reflects the relative reduction in quality of life lost due to living with the disease.
EU-14
The EU-14 corresponds to all countries that belonged to the European Union between 1995 and 2004: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. We compare the Belgian health status to that of the EU-14 because these countries have similar socioeconomic conditions. Note: The United Kingdom is not included since they have left the EU.
Age-standardized prevalence
The age-standardized prevalence is a weighted average of the individual age-specific prevalences using an external standard population. It is the prevalence that would be observed if the population had the age structure of the standard population. Since age has an important influence on the risk of diabetes, this standardization is necessary when comparing several populations that differ with respect to their age structure. Here, the Belgian 2018 mid-year population is used as standard population.

References

  1. Intermualistic Agency (IMA). https://aim-ima.be/
  2. Intego, KU Leuven. https://intego.be/
  3. Renal Database, European Renal Association (ERA). https://www.era-online.org/en/registry/
  4. Health Interview Survey (HIS), Sciensano. https://www.sciensano.be/en/projects/health-interview-survey
  5. Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR). https://kankerregister.org/
  6. Statistics Belgium (Statbel). https://statbel.fgov.be/en
  7. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021) Results. Seattle, United States: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2022. Available from http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool.

Please cite this page as: Sciensano. Burden of disease: Years Lived with Disability, Health Status Report, 26 June 2025, Brussels, Belgium, https://www.healthybelgium.be/en/health-status/burden-of-disease/years-lived-with-disability