More residents in neighbouring countries commute to the Netherlands for work
Ralph Rozema / Shutterstock.com
By Simone Jacobs
New figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have revealed that there has been an increase in the number of people who commute to work in the Netherlands while living in neighbouring countries such as Germany or Belgium.
Increasing number of cross-border commuters in the Netherlands
2023 saw almost 90.000 people travelling to the Netherlands for work from across the border - 3.000 more than a year earlier and almost 10.000 more than 10 years ago. 44.000 of the cross-border commuters live in Belgium, while 45.000 live in Germany.
Almost half of the cross-border commuters are Dutch, followed by workers who have Belgian or German nationalities. There was also an increase in other nationalities who work in the Netherlands while living in another country, namely those from Poland.
Limburg and Brabant popular with cross-border workers
Six in 10 of the cross-border commuters work in Limburg or Brabant, closer to the shared borders. Among Belgian residents, Limburg and North Brabant were the most popular Dutch provinces to work in, with cities like Maastricht and Eindhoven being the most favoured. German commuters mainly worked in Limburg, Gelderland and Overijssel.
Why so many people live in a neighbouring country while working in the Netherlands is not mentioned in the report. However, several factors could be behind it, such as the rising Dutch wages or the worker shortage, leading to companies hiring foreign workers. Another reason could be the rising costs of Dutch housing or the housing shortage, which has even led to first-time buyers delaying life events.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more