Belgians and Dutch workers remain Europe’s top commuters in 2025.
Belgians spend the most time on the road at almost an hour each day, while the Dutch live the farthest away from their workplace, covering the greatest distances in the European Union.
Belgian employees spent an average 57 minutes a day commuting in 2025, more than any other EU country workers. One in five belong to the “super-commuter” group, travelling at least 90 minutes daily, according to new figures released on August 29 by HR services company SD Worx.
The Dutch, by contrast, top a different metric: They travel longer distances to work than any other member state employees.
Veerle Michiels of SD Worx, said: “Belgians are very attached to where they live. We rarely move house for work. Instead, we relocate for our social network.”
Many settle in suburban or rural areas near family, while jobs stay concentrated in Brussels, Antwerp or Ghent, the country’s biggest cities, lengthening daily travel, she added.
The survey defined “super-commuters” as employees who spent at least an hour and a half on the road each day.
Besides Belgium, high numbers of super-commuters are also found in Germany, Ireland and Sweden.
In Ireland, housing pressures in Dublin push travel time up; in Sweden, the geographic spread of jobs and population plays a role. Southern European countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Portugal sit at the other end of the scale, with most workers reaching their jobs in under 30 minutes.
The UK, included in the SD Worx survey as part of Europe, also finds itself among the long-commute countries. British employees spend above-average time travelling, with 50 minutes per day, on par with the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, respectively, at 54, 52 and 51 minutes per day.
In the Netherlands, housing shortages and high property prices in cities force workers to live further afield. A dense motorway and rail network helps, but congestion remains a drag.
Dutch employees are also more likely to travel between client sites, making them structurally more mobile than most European workers.
Cross-border flows add to the picture. Dutch employers rely heavily on foreign commuters, with around 44,000 Belgians crossing the border daily for work in 2023, nearly the same number as the 45,000 Germans doing so, according to the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics in January 2025.
How workers get to work also matters. In Belgium, the car remains king but the bicycle is gaining ground. More than 41 per cent of Belgian employees now cycle for part or all of their commute, compared to less than a third five years ago.
Public transport lags far behind at just 8 per cent, according to a January report by Belgian news agency Belga. “The car remains the most popular mode of transport, but the bicycle is clearly gaining importance,” Charlotte Thijs, mobility expert at Acerta Consult, told Belga.
In Belgium, 55 per cent of surveyed workers rely on their own vehicle, just under the European average of 59 per cent. Company cars are slightly more popular than elsewhere (11 per cent), comparable to France but less common than in the Netherlands.
The train is unusually strong in Belgium at 11 per cent, nearly double the European average, largely because many civil servants travel free of charge. Public transport by metro, tram or bus, and walking, are all less frequent than in other countries.
Cycling, though, is where Belgium stands out. According to SD Worx, 10 per cent of Belgian employees commute by regular bike and 8 per cent by e-bike, meaning nearly one in five (18 per cent) cycles to work as their main mode of transport.
That places Belgium in Europe’s top three cycling nations, behind the Netherlands but ahead of Germany and the UK. Among at those who cycle at least part of their commute, Belgium even leads the continent with 41.3 per cent, well above the European average of 17.1 per cent.
SD Worx noted that cycling’s rise in Belgium was not only cultural but also supported by tax incentives and employer reimbursement schemes, which made bike commuting financially attractive.
