The number of Belgian workers in Luxembourg has significantly increased in the past 15 years, while fewer are working in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Belgium is most popular among French workers.
Wedged between many countries, Belgium's geographic location allows residents living close to the border to easily work abroad while residing in Belgium. This year, more than 86,000 Belgians worked in neighbouring countries, up from 74,700 in 2007, when this data was first gathered.
Luxembourg may be even smaller than Belgium, but it is a very attractive country for residents of neighbouring countries when it comes to working here, as the gross minimum wage exceeds that of neighbouring countries and the median wage is also higher.
While 32,627 people from Belgium travelled to Luxembourg in 2007 for work, this figure jumped up to around 50,000 in 2023, according to figures from the National Institute for Sickness and Disability Insurance (Riziv) on cross-border workers.
One of the main explanations for cross-border movements is tax reasons. Generally, outgoing cross-border workers pay their social security contributions in the country where they work, meaning a Belgian working in Luxembourg receives direct withholding tax here and thus does not pay tax on his income from work in Belgium, but in Luxembourg.
A recent bill was passed to make living in Belgium and working in Luxembourg more attractive. Belgians and Luxembourgers employed across the border can now work from home for 34 instead of 24 days from 2022 with no tax consequences, meaning even if a Belgian person works in Belgium for 34 days a year, they are still taxed in Luxembourg.
The second-largest group of Belgian people travelling abroad for work go to the Netherlands. But this figure has dropped to just over 22,000 in 2023 – when it was 31,500 in 2007. France and Germany also receive more Belgian workers than before. About 8,400 cross the border to France, up from 5,500 in 2007, while around 6,900 travel to Germany, up from some 5,100 in 2007.
Incoming workers
RIZIV's figures on cross-border workers coming to Belgium from neighbouring countries show that, despite the fact that their country of origin has a more beneficial tax system, 580 Luxembourgers work here, marking a very small increase since 2007 (438).
The number of French working in Belgium, however, has risen from almost 30,000 to almost 40,000 in the past 16 years. But overall, there is a net outflow of about 30,000 workers, as only 53,000 people travel from abroad every day to work in Belgium, meaning the country is less attractive work-wise.
This also means that the loss in revenue from Belgians working abroad is not made up for by people crossing the borders to come and work in Belgium.
