Belgian employees spend more than one hour a day traveling to and from work, making Belgium once again Europe’s commuting champion.

But the explanation is not simply that Belgians live farther from their jobs. In fact, Dutch employees often cover even greater distances. Belgium’s problem is that those kilometers take unusually long to cover.

According to a new international survey by HR service provider SD Worx, Belgian employees spend an average of 61 minutes per day commuting, the highest figure among the 16 European countries surveyed, and well above the international average of 48 minutes. Sweden follows at 57 minutes, and Ireland at 56.

Long-distance commuters

The Belgian figure has also crossed an important psychological threshold. Employees themselves consider an average of 57 minutes per day the maximum acceptable commuting time.

Yet only 34% say their commute costs them significant work time, suggesting that long journeys have, to some extent, become accepted as part of Belgian working life.

The extremes are particularly revealing. No less than 13% of Belgian employees spend two hours or more commuting every day, compared with an international average of 8%. Belgium also has one of Europe’s largest groups of very long-distance commuters: 14% travel more than 120 kilometers per day.

Dutch travel even farther

That last figure exposes an interesting paradox. The Netherlands actually scores slightly higher, with 15% of employees traveling more than 120 kilometers.

Previous SD Worx data showed the same phenomenon. Dutch employees traveled around 40 kilometers per working day, compared with 37 kilometers in Belgium, and 34 kilometers in France. Yet Belgian employees spent more time doing so.

The latest Dutch publication of the 2026 SD Worx survey puts the average Dutch commute at 56.4 minutes and the German one at 47.3 minutes.

SD Worx’s various national publications show small discrepancies in the exact Belgian figure. Still, the conclusion remains the same: Belgium ranks at or near the top for commuting time, while the Netherlands is arguably Europe’s distance champion. In other words, the Belgian problem is not just distance. It is how slowly and unreliably those kilometers are covered.

Belgians are relatively attached to where they live

Belgium combines several characteristics that make long commutes almost inevitable. Housing is highly dispersed, while employment is much more concentrated around Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, and several other economic centers. Brussels is the clearest example. Roughly half of the people working in the Brussels Capital Region live outside it, creating huge daily flows from Flanders and Wallonia.

At the same time, Belgians tend to be relatively attached to where they live. Families often choose a home based on affordability, available space, schools, and proximity to family rather than proximity to the workplace. Changing employers is generally easier than moving house.

That spatial pattern is then combined with heavy reliance on cars. Statbel figures show that around two-thirds of Belgian commuters use the car as their main mode of transport, with the share rising above 80% in Wallonia.

Public transport does not always offer a convincing alternative either. In the new SD Worx survey, only 46% of Belgian employees believe they have sufficient commuting options, compared with 54% internationally. Barely one in four considers public transport convenient, reliable and easily accessible.

The Netherlands fares better on both counts. Its rail network, cycling infrastructure, and multimodal connections allow employees to cover relatively long distances more efficiently. However, worsening housing affordability is also forcing many Dutch workers to live farther from the major employment centers.

Commuting is subsidized

Belgium has another peculiarity. Successive governments and employers have made long-distance commuting financially easier through company cars, reimbursement of public transport, bicycle allowances, and commuting compensation.

That helps employees absorb the cost of living in locations farther from work, but it can also reduce the financial incentive to move closer. Research by Belgium’s Federal Planning Bureau has previously suggested that commuting subsidies and company cars can contribute to longer commuting distances and greater car use.

Other European countries

Germany provides an interesting contrast. Despite equally high car use, average commuting time in the latest SD Worx comparison is substantially lower.

Germany’s more polycentric economic structure, with jobs spread across numerous large and medium-sized cities, may help avoid the extreme gravitational pull that Brussels exercises on the Belgian labor market.

Luxembourg could potentially challenge Belgium, but it was not included in the SD Worx survey. Nearly half of Luxembourg’s workforce consists of cross-border commuters from France, Belgium, and Germany, many of whom spend long periods traveling each day.

Belgium’s European commuting title is therefore less a badge of long-distance mobility than the result of decades of spatial planning, suburbanization, concentrated employment, and car-oriented mobility. The Dutch often travel farther. Belgians simply need more time to get there.