Acerta: ‘One in six Belgian employees gets bicycle allowance’

Today, 1,62% of Belgian employees has a leased bike to commute. That is one-quarter more than last year (1,29%) and more than ever. The figures come from HR service provider Acerta and are based on a survey among 320 000 employees working in 37 000 private sector companies. The reason for this extensive study was the ‘Week of Mobility’.

The number of bicycle allowances is also rapidly increasing: between May and June, one in six employees (16,65%) got compensation from their employer to cycle to work – from January to April, it was 14,46%. On average, it represents about 47 euros per month. Since May 2023, the bicycle allowance can be granted in all sectors.

Flexible pay package

The average distance covered increased from 10,62 km/day in January-April to 11,25 km/day in May-June – good for a monthly bonus of about 46,5 euros.

Offering leased bicycles allows companies to make the pay package more flexible. Like a leased car, a leased bike offers the advantage that you can pay for it with gross wages. Thanks to the popularity of e-bikes, more and more employees prefer to commute by bicycle.

More electric cars

In addition to the bicycle, company cars are also increasingly getting electric. According to Acerta’s study, today, almost one-quarter of all company cars  (23,5%) are fully electric; in 2022, it was about 13%. The changed taxation for company cars running on fossil fuels is the driving force behind this evolution.