The Flemish Government provides incentives for municipalities to voluntarily merge. The municipal councils of Kruishoutem and Zingem approved a merge in 2017, which was ratified by Flemish decree of 4 May 2018 alongside several other merges, all to be effective per 1 January 2019.
As of 1 January 2018, the municipality of Kruishoutem had a population of 8,086 and Zingem a population of 7,552.