Belgians are increasingly using bicycles for their journeys, including commuting. This trend is confirmed by various mobility barometers and surveys in both Flanders and Wallonia.
For the first time, more than half of Flemish people regularly cycle to work. Wallonia lags in this area, but even there, we observe that, for the first time, 6% of workers in Wallonia cycle to work periodically, a record.
One in five Flemish people cycles to work every day
A survey of 3,000 Flemish people conducted by Fietsberaad Vlaanderen shows that in 2025, Flemish people made an average of 18.5% of their journeys by bicycle. Compared with 2022, this represents a 40,000-journey-per-day increase.
This upward trend is also evident in the mobility barometer of the HR company Acerta. Last year, for example, 50.8% of Flemish people regularly cycled to work. In 2022, this figure was 38.2%.
Almost 18% of Flemish people, 17.6% to be exact, always use their bicycle to travel to and from work, an increase of 6%. More people are also combining cycling with car or public transport.
Significant increase in Wallonia
In the Walloon provinces, too, cycling is becoming increasingly crucial for commuting. Acerta’s mobility barometer shows that, for the first time, 6% of workers there regularly cycle to work, an increase of 64% compared to five years ago.
Approximately 2.4% of Walloons always use their bicycle to travel to and from work. A smaller proportion (0.3%) uses bicycles in combination with public transport.
King car
In both Flanders and Wallonia, the car remains the most popular means of transport for commuting to work. At least 92% of Walloon workers commute by car, either alone or in combination with other modes of transport. This represents a slight 1.2% decrease compared to five years ago. The majority (87.9%) still use the car to cover the entire distance between home and work.
For 77.1% of Flemish people, the car remains the preferred means of transport for commuting, a decrease of just 0.4% compared to 2020. But unlike Wallonia, public transport is becoming less popular in Flanders for commuting: for the first time, its share has fallen below 7%. Barely 3.8% of employees now rely exclusively on public transport, down at least 18.7 percentage points.
In Wallonia, we observe the opposite trend: the share of public transport in commuting stands at 6.4%, approximately 11% higher than five years ago.
Unsafe bicycle parking facilities
The sharp decline in public transport popularity in Flanders may be related to bicycle parking facilities at train stations. More than half of cyclists consider the bicycle parking facilities at train stations too unsafe to leave their bikes there. Bicycle theft also remains a significant problem, especially for owners of more expensive bikes.
Six out of ten cyclists worry about theft when they leave their bikes somewhere. Furthermore, not all bicycle parking facilities are equipped to accommodate e-bikes, which do not always fit standard racks.
The Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB has promised to improve the situation: within six years, at least 100 stations will have secure bicycle parking facilities. These will incur a charge, with prices starting at € 6.30 per month.
On average, Flemish people spent €3,900 on an e-bike and €1,557 on a traditional bicycle, which is €1,181 and €669 more than in the Netherlands, respectively. Longtails, cargo bikes, electric mountain bikes, racing bikes, folding bikes, and fat bikes – the phenomenon, like the annoyances and nuisances surrounding it, has blown over from the Netherlands and is also popular.
Helmet wearing is gaining ground
In general, more Flemish people are satisfied with the cycling infrastructure. Last year, 44% of Flemish people rated it at least 7 out of 10, compared with 40% in 2022. Approximately 30% of Flemish people surveyed by Fietsberaad reported almost always wearing a bicycle helmet in 2025, double the figure in 2022. The ‘cycling risk’, the risk of a fatal accident by bicycle per kilometer cycled, fell by 30% between 2017 and 2024.
