# Chemical Engineering jobs in Belgium for international graduates

Chemical Engineering jobs in Belgium: typical pay €64,900, 742 online job ads a month, +17.6% job growth to 2035, Search year 12 months.

Page: https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/belgium/chemical-engineering

## Job market at a glance

The jobs **Chemical Engineering** leads to, added together. Each label compares Chemical Engineering with the other Belgian fields.

- **Online job ads a month (experimental)**: 742 (Strong)
- **Average pay (calculated)**: €5,408 a month (Moderate)
- **Growth to 2035 (Cedefop)**: +17.6% (Weak)
- **Change since 2024**: +10.9% (Strong)
- **Jobs on the EU shortage report (2025)**: 85% (Strong)

Change in people employed: the broader occupation groups these jobs belong to (Eurostat Labour Force Survey, Belgium). Pay is calculated by UNIFER from Statbel's 2022 average hourly pay for the job's occupation group (women's and men's figures weighted by the share of women) × 38 hours a week, and shown a month. Statbel publishes no lower-quartile pay, so no entry-level figure is shown. No "vs last year" figure: Eurostat marks a break in Belgium's 2024 online-ads series.

## Jobs this degree leads to

The jobs **Chemical Engineering** courses most often lead to in Belgium, and how each one is doing.

| Job | Share | Average pay a month | Growth to 2035 | Online job ads a month (experimental) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1. Chemical engineers | 30% | €5,408 est. | +17.6% | 877 |
| 2. Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified | 28% | €5,408 est. | +17.6% | 877 |
| 3. Industrial and production engineers | 26% | €5,408 est. | +17.6% | 877 |
| 4. Environmental protection professionals | 13% | €5,408 est. | +17.6% | 6 |
| 5. Chemists | 3% | €5,408 est. | +17.6% | 10 |

Share: how common each job is among Chemical Engineering destinations. Online job ads a month: Eurostat's experimental count of online job ads in Belgium for each job's occupation group (ISCO 3-digit), 2024, divided by 12. Belgian pay is published for broad occupation groups, so each job shows its group's figure ("est."); job ads are Eurostat's for the job's 3-digit group. Swipe the table sideways for more.

## What graduates like you earned

Belgium publishes no pay for graduates by field, so this is what **all employees with a master's degree** earn in Belgium, working full time, all ages and fields.

- **Master's-degree holders in Belgium median, full time, 2022**: €5,772 a month

Foreign-born master's graduates working in Belgium earned **85.5%** of what Belgian-born graduates earned (2018, full- and part-time workers together). Gross monthly pay, as Statbel publishes it.

## Staying to work after you graduate

How international students stay to work in Belgium after studying **Chemical Engineering**.

1 Finish your course

A master's or a PhD from a Belgian institution.

2 Search year up to 12 months

to look for a job or set up a company in Belgium. You can work without restriction during the search year.

3 Work permit (set by each region)

**Flanders, highly skilled:** at least **€39,130** a year if you are under 30, €48,912 from 30 (the 2025 amounts, still applied in 2026; they include the 13th month and holiday pay). EU Blue Card: €63,586.

**Wallonia, highly qualified:** at least **€42,576** a year under 30, €53,220 otherwise (2026). EU Blue Card: €68,815.

**Brussels, highly qualified:** at least **€3,703** a month in basic gross pay (2026; 78% of the region's average gross monthly pay). EU Blue Card: €4,748 a month.

- **Typical monthly pay in Chemical Engineering jobs vs Flanders' minimum for a highly skilled worker under 30**: €5,408 typical pay a month minimum **€2,811**
- **Chemical Engineering jobs on the EU shortage report for Belgium (2025)**: 85%

**Flanders' shortage list (VDAB, 2026)**: **Industrial and production engineers** is on it.

**Wallonia's shortage list for foreign workers (1 October 2026 – 30 September 2027)**: none of these jobs is on it.

In 2025, **1,437** non-EU students in Belgium switched from a study permit to a work permit, **113** of them Indian citizens.

Graduates living in Belgium who are citizens of non-EU countries: **66.3%** in work, against 88.7% of Belgian graduates (ages 25–64, 2025).

## Chemical Engineering in other countries

Typical pay for the same jobs (in US dollars in brackets, at October 2026 exchange rates), projected growth, and post-study work after a master's.

- [Belgium €64,900 ($72,600) Growth +17.6% (2022–35) · Search year 12 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/belgium/chemical-engineering)
- [Netherlands €64,600 ($72,300) Growth +5.1% (2025–30) · Orientation year 12 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/netherlands/chemical-engineering)
- [France €52,600 net ($58,900) Growth +32.3% (2022–35) · Job-search permit 12 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/france/chemical-engineering)
- [United Kingdom £47,300 ($63,200) Growth +11.2% (2025–35) · Graduate visa 18 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/uk/chemical-engineering)
- [United States $131,300 Growth +4.9% (2025–35) · OPT 12 months, 36 with the STEM extension](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/us/chemical-engineering)
- [Canada CA$107,600 ($76,900) Growth +9.8% (2023–33) · PGWP up to 36 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/canada/chemical-engineering)

- [Australia AU$140,800 ($98,900) Growth +21.1% (2025–35) · 24 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/australia/chemical-engineering)
- [Ireland €49,100 ($55,000) Growth +5.1% (2025–28) · Stamp 1G 24 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/ireland/chemical-engineering)
- [Germany €83,900 ($93,900) Growth +2% (2023–40) · 18 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/germany/chemical-engineering)
- [Sweden SEK 625,000 ($62,800) Growth +40.3% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 12 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/sweden/chemical-engineering)
- [Denmark DKK 820,000 ($122,800) Growth +25.4% (2022–35) · Job-seeking permit 12 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/denmark/chemical-engineering)
- [Finland €60,300 ($67,500) Growth +25.6% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 24 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/finland/chemical-engineering)
- [Poland PLN 115,400 ($29,400) Growth +33.9% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 9 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/poland/chemical-engineering)
- [Spain €41,900 ($46,900) Growth +29.1% (2022–35) · Job-search permit 24 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/spain/chemical-engineering)
- [Italy €24,700 net ($27,600) Growth +36.6% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work up to 12 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/italy/chemical-engineering)
- [Switzerland CHF 104,800 ($127,100) Job search 6 months](https://uniferedu.com/job-market-research/switzerland/chemical-engineering)

## Belgian universities teaching Chemical Engineering

3 Belgian universities offer 4 postgraduate courses in Chemical Engineering. The highest ranked:

- [KU Leuven QS #59 · 2 courses](https://uniferedu.com/universities/ku-leuven)
- [Ghent University QS #150 · 1 course](https://uniferedu.com/universities/ghent-university)
- [Universite Libre de Bruxelles QS #248 · 1 course](https://uniferedu.com/universities/universite-libre-de-bruxelles)

[See all 4 courses in the Course Explorer →](https://uniferedu.com/explore?country=BE&sub_field=Chemical%20Engineering)

## Questions students ask

### How much do Chemical Engineering graduates earn in Belgium?

Belgium publishes no graduate pay by field; employees with a master's degree earn a median €5,772 a month (full time, all fields and ages). Across all workers in these jobs, typical pay is €5,408 a month.

### Is Chemical Engineering in demand in Belgium?

Employers posted about 742 online job ads a month for these jobs. Employment in these jobs is projected to grow 17.6% from 2022 to 2035.

### Can I stay and work in Belgium after a Chemical Engineering master's?

Yes, for up to 12 months on the search year after your studies, free to work. To stay, each region sets a minimum salary for highly skilled workers; in Flanders it is €39,130 a year if you are under 30.

## Where these numbers come from

Every figure comes from an official Belgian source. Tap a source tag next to any number for its details.

- [be.STAT — average and median gross monthly wages of full-time employees by education level (IM_SOC_WAGES); yearly figure calculated by UNIFER](https://bestat.statbel.fgov.be/bestat/)
Statbel (Directorate-general Statistics – Statistics Belgium) · Statbel open data, reuse with attribution (licence page not readable: CANNOT VERIFY) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Cedefop Skills Forecast — future employment growth by occupation group, Belgium, 2022–2035](https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/skills-intelligence/future-employment-growth)
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) · Cedefop: reuse with acknowledgement of the source (CC BY 4.0) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [EURES Report on labour shortages and surpluses — occupations in shortage, Belgium](https://eures.europa.eu/living-and-working/labour-shortages-and-surpluses-europe_en)
European Labour Authority (ELA) / EURES National Coordination Office · European Labour Authority / EURES: reuse with acknowledgement of the source · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Employed persons by detailed occupation (ISCO-08 two-digit), Belgium — EU Labour Force Survey (lfsa_egai2d)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsa_egai2d/default/table?lang=en)
Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Online job advertisements by occupation (ISCO-08 three-digit), Belgium — experimental statistics (jvs_a_isco3_r1)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/jvs_a_isco3_r1/default/table?lang=en)
Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Change of immigration status permits, education to employment, Belgium (migr_reschange)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_reschange/default/table?lang=en)
Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Employment rates by educational attainment and citizenship, tertiary education, ages 25–64, Belgium (lfsa_ergaedn)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsa_ergaedn/default/table?lang=en)
Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [L'écart salarial entre les femmes et les hommes en Belgique, Rapport 2025 (IEFH / FPS Employment; Statbel SES 2022), Tableau 21; both-sexes and yearly figures calculated by UNIFER](https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/sites/default/files/media/documents/L%27%C3%A9cart%20salarial%20entre%20les%20femmes%20et%20des%20hommes%20en%20Belgique.%20Rapport%202025_1.pdf)
Statbel (data) — Institute for the Equality of Women and Men (IEFH) and FPS Employment (report) · No reuse terms stated in the report (official statistics; used with credit for educational purposes; courtesy note drafted) · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Education at a Glance — relative earnings of foreign-born adults with master's or doctoral education, Belgium (DF_LSO_EARN_REL_NATIVE)](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/)
OECD · OECD data — reuse with attribution · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Belgian post-study and work rules — Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be), Flanders (vlaanderen.be), Wallonia (emploi.wallonie.be) and Brussels (economie-emploi.brussels, read by hand), manually verified](https://dofi.ibz.be/en/themes/third-country-nationals/study/search-year-after-higher-studies)
Immigration Office; Flemish Government; Walloon Public Service — transcribed and verified by UNIFER · Official government information · loaded 19 Oct 2026

- [Knelpuntberoepen in Vlaanderen 2026 (VDAB) and the Walloon shortage list for foreign workers 2026–2027; ISCO-08 coding by UNIFER](https://www.vdab.be/trends-en-cijfers/knelpuntberoepenlijst)
VDAB; Service public de Wallonie (Emploi) · Official public lists (VDAB and Walloon government); coding by UNIFER · loaded 19 Oct 2026

Indicative figures from official Belgian sources. They describe groups of graduates and workers, not what any individual will earn or be offered. Visa rules change, so check dofi.ibz.be before you decide.