Average commute exceeds one hour a day for the first time
Belgian employees are spending more than an hour a day commuting to and from work for the first time, according to new research by HR specialist SD Worx. With an average daily commute of 61 minutes, Belgium remains Europe’s commuting champion, and has now exceeded the amount of time workers themselves consider acceptable.
The long commuting times are not simply a consequence of Belgium’s small but densely populated geography. The country has a highly dispersed settlement pattern, with people often living in one municipality, working in another and accessing services somewhere else.
At the same time, jobs are concentrated in major employment centres such as Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Leuven, creating extensive daily flows between cities and surrounding towns and villages.
Housing and employment also do not necessarily coincide. People may live further from work because housing is more affordable, because they own their home or because they need to balance two partners’ workplaces. Belgium’s strong tradition of home ownership means that changing jobs does not necessarily result in moving house.
The country’s transport system adds another dimension. Belgium has a dense road network and company cars have historically been an important part of employee remuneration, making relatively long car commutes feasible. Public transport can be less competitive for journeys between suburbs or smaller towns, particularly when several connections are required.
The findings come from SD Worx’s international research among 16,500 employees in 16 European countries, including more than 1,000 in Belgium.
Belgium remains a clear European outlier
Belgian employees report an average commute of 61 minutes a day, the highest figure among all 16 countries surveyed and well above the international average of 48 minutes.
Sweden, at 57 minutes, and Ireland, at 56 minutes, come closest to Belgium, although average commuting times in both countries remain below one hour. At the other end of the scale are Slovenia, and Italy, where employees spend an average of just 32 and 35 minutes commuting respectively.
Brussels is particularly important in explaining Belgium’s commuting pattern. The capital has a very high concentration of jobs compared with its resident population, drawing workers from both Flanders and Wallonia every weekday. Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Liège and other employment centres similarly attract workers from a wide surrounding area.
Belgium’s fragmented regional and linguistic geography also means that crossing municipal and regional boundaries for work is commonplace. Although the country is small, its labour and housing markets extend well beyond individual cities.
Another reason for Belgium’s high average is the relatively large number of so-called ‘top commuters’. 13% of Belgian employees spend at least two hours a day commuting, the highest proportion of any country surveyed and well above the international average of 8%.
Serbia, Romania, and Ireland follow, with 12%, 11% and 11% respectively. Sweden, at 10%, and the United Kingdom, at 9%, are also above the international average. In Italy, and Slovenia, by contrast, only 3% of employees spend two hours or more commuting each day.
Belgium also has one of Europe’s largest shares of employees travelling long distances to work. 14% commute more than 120 kilometres a day, just behind the Netherlands at 15%. Sweden ranks third, at 10%.
Average commute exceeds workers’ tolerance limit
Belgian employees have now passed the point they themselves consider acceptable. On average, workers say 57 minutes a day is the maximum acceptable commuting time, while the average across the countries surveyed is 62 minutes per day, counting the journey to and from work.
Yet the long journeys do not translate into an exceptionally high level of dissatisfaction. 34% of Belgian employees say commuting significantly eats into their working time, only slightly above the international average of 32%. Meanwhile, 41% say they do not experience commuting in this way.
The results therefore paint a more nuanced picture: although Belgians have the longest average commutes, many appear to have accepted long journeys as part of working life.
“Crossing the one-hour mark is more than a symbolic threshold. Belgium remains Europe’s commuting champion and has now also exceeded the limit that employees themselves consider acceptable. Yet Belgians seem to have largely accepted long travel times as part of working life. There are, however, significant differences behind that average: men commute considerably longer than women, while women are more likely to say they need additional opportunities to work from home. Employers would do well to take these differing expectations into account”, says Veerle Michiels, mobility expert, SD Worx
Long commutes do not automatically mean greater demand for home working
Despite having the longest average commute, Belgium does not have a higher-than-average proportion of employees who do not commute regularly. The figure is 14%, compared with 20% in the UK, 19% in Spain, and 18% in both Sweden, and Poland.
At the other end of the scale, only 8% of employees in Slovenia, 9% in Germany, 11% in Romania, and 12% in France do not commute regularly.
Nor does Belgium’s exceptionally long commuting time translate into greater demand for working from home. 32% of Belgian employees would like to work from home more often, a figure below the international average.
That may partly reflect how commuting is embedded in Belgian working life. For many employees, a long journey is not necessarily seen as something that can easily be eliminated by changing where they live or work. Home ownership, partners’ jobs and the geographic separation between housing and employment can all make relocation impractical.
Men commute further than women
There are significant differences between Belgian employee groups. Men spend an average of 65 minutes commuting each day, compared with 56 minutes for women.
Men are almost twice as likely as women to have a daily commute of more than 100 kilometres: 23% compared with 12%. Women, meanwhile, tend to live closer to their workplace and have both shorter commutes and a lower tolerance threshold.
Women consider 47 minutes a day an acceptable commuting time, compared with 67 minutes for men.
Women are also more likely to want additional opportunities to work from home: 35% would like to do so, compared with 28% of men.
Company size also matters. Employees of organisations with more than 1,000 staff report an average commute of 69 minutes a day, compared with 53 minutes among employees of organisations with fewer than 100 workers. Full-time employees and certain professional groups, including middle managers and senior specialists, also tend to have longer commutes.
Public transport remains a weak point
The availability of commuting alternatives also influences employees’ experiences. Almost half of Belgian employees, 46%, believe there are sufficient commuting options available to them. That is below the international average of 54%.
One in three disagrees, with little difference between women (28%) and men (30%).
Public transport remains a particular area of concern. Only 25% of women and 28% of men consider public transport convenient, reliable and easily accessible, compared with an average of 36% across the countries surveyed. More than half of men (51%) disagree with the statement, compared with 46% of women.
This is particularly relevant in a country where commuting frequently takes place between rather than within cities. Belgium’s railway network provides strong links between major urban centres, but journeys between peripheral areas can involve multiple connections and may therefore be less attractive than travelling by car.
Veerle Michiels: “For many people, going back to school also means going back to work, with more commuting on our roads. Mobility today is about more than simply getting from A to B. Employees have different expectations depending on their role, where they live and their stage of life. Employers that make smart use of hybrid working, flexible working hours and transport options can make a significant difference to their attractiveness on the labour market. This freedom of choice is also becoming increasingly important from a policy perspective. The mobility budget can give employees more scope to exchange their company car, or their entitlement to one, for more sustainable or better-suited mobility solutions.”
About the study
The research was conducted by the SD Worx Research Institute between 27 January and 20 February 2026 in Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, the UK and Sweden.
A total of 5,936 HR decision-makers and 16,500 employees took part. The results are intended to provide a representative picture of the labour market in each country.
In Belgium, 1,000 employees were surveyed. The maximum margin of error for the Belgian sample is 3.02 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
SD Worx regularly conducts research across Europe through its ‘HR & Payroll Pulse’ programme to track developments among employers and employees and provide organisations with insights for their HR and payroll strategies.
About SD Worx
SD Worx is a European provider of HR and payroll solutions, offering software, services and expertise in payroll and reward, human capital management and workforce management.
Around 105,000 organisations across Europe rely on SD Worx. The company employs around 10,000 people in 27 countries and processes the payroll of approximately six million employees. It ranks among the world’s five largest payroll providers and reported revenue of €1.307 billion in 2025.
