People with disabilities in Wallonia 2018, by age

Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. In Belgium, for a disability to be covered by insurance, it must be recognized by the public federal services. In Belgium's region of Wallonia, the majority of disabled people were aged over 65 years. In fact, over 117,000 people of this age had a recognized disability in 2018.

To a lesser extent, around 21,400 people aged under 21 years were living in Wallonia with a recognized disability. There is no consistent definition of handicap in Belgium. However, all definitions rely on the interaction between an individual and his environment, and state that age plays a clear role in disability.