More than 86 thousand people commute to the Netherlands for work and Limburg in particular is a popular working region for our neighboring countries.
This is evident from figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in collaboration with statistical agencies from Belgium and Germany. The figures are for the year 2021. This is the most recent year for which these figures are available.
North, South Limburg and Zeeuws-Vlaanderen are the Dutch regions with the highest percentage of employees who live across the border. Nearly 44 thousand employees crossed the border from Germany and 42 thousand employees from Belgium commute to the Netherlands for work. These numbers have remained more or less the same since 2017.
Conversely, the numbers are much lower
In the opposite direction, people commute for work a lot less. Nearly 7 thousand employees from the Netherlands worked in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 1 thousand in Lower Saxony and 11 thousand in Flanders. The number of cross-border commuters from the Netherlands to Belgium has fallen since 2017. According to CBS, very few Dutch people work in Wallonia.
North Limburg is particularly popular
More than 5 percent of employees in North Limburg came from Germany in 2021. That is a high percentage, compared to the national average of 0.5 percent. In Central and South Limburg, the percentages in 2021 were between 1 and 2 percent. These regions receive relatively more Belgians. In South Limburg this is more than 4 percent.
Also read: UWV: industry under pressure in Limburg, but staff shortages remain as severe
