Objectives Dermatophytosis refers to superficial fungal infections of keratinized tissues caused by keratinophilic dermatophytes. They are the most common cause of superficial fungal infections worldwide. Epidemiological studies regarding dermatophytes infections have been conducted in several countries and differences in the incidence and in etiological agents have been reported. That is why national surveillance of circulating strains causing dermatophytosis is critical. The National Reference Center (NRC) for mycoses conducted a survey on dermatophytes strains circulating in Belgium from 2012 to 2016. The present study was performed to assess the profile of dermatophytosis and to identify the species involved. Methods The Belgian NRC for mycoses (Leuven and Liège) collected 14227 strains between January 2012 and December 2016. The strains were obtained from clinically suspected fungal infections of skin, hair and nails. Strains were collected from Belgian laboratories in order to confirm the fungal identification which was performed by microscopy and in case of doubt by ITS sequencing. Results Among the 14227 samples collected, 6248 were identified as dermatophytes (44%). Trichophyton rubrum was the most prevalent species accounting for 61,3% (n=3820) of the strains collected from all sources, followed by T. mentagrophytes complex (19,2%, n=1199) according to the ancient classification (including T. interdigitale, T. benhamiae and T. mentagrophytes). Other less prevalent species were also recorded: M. audouinii (n=507, 8,1%), M. canis (n=210, 3,3%), T. tonsurans (n= 140, 2,2%), T. violaceum (n=133, 2,1%), T. soudanense (n=125, 2%), M. praecox (n=60, 0,96%) and E. floccosum (n=19, 0,3%) for the main ones. Our data show the predominance of anthropophilic species causing tinea capitis especially M. audouinii responsible for 43,4% (n=303/716) of hair/scalp infection with an increasing number from 2014 to 2016. Trichophyton soudanense, rarely observed in Belgium in the past, is an emerging agent of tinea capitis ...