Distance, origin… The habits of Hauts-de-France residents who work in Belgium

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France shares more than 600 kilometers of border with Belgium. So many opportunities for residents of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais to find a job suited to their desires and their salary expectations. In 2021, there were 36,000 in 2021 to have made this choice, according to data reported by INSEE.

A way of life which is not without consequences on their daily lives. The statistics institute reports that the journeys made by cross-border commuters are almost three times longer than those made by other workers. They travel on average 39 kilometers compared to 15 for other assets. A quarter of these journeys are more than 50 kilometers long.

What profile?

Workers who occupy a position in the Flat Country travel in 90% of cases by car and are, for half of them, manual workers. They mostly live in the areas of Roubaix-Tourcoing (10,500 active), Valenciennes (6,700), Lille (6,600) and Maubeuge (6,200) and go mainly to the Tournai-Mouscron area, followed by Kortrijk, Mons and Ypres.

Public transport, when possible

When you work across the border, you often have no choice but to take the car. Firstly because most cross-border workers work staggered hours. But also because the offer in terms of public transport between France and Belgium remains quite limited. INSEE nevertheless notes that border executives make the effort to use these “greener” alternatives when possible. This is the case for 17% of them, thanks to the existence of TER lines, passing in particular through Roubaix or Tourcoing and high-speed trains linking Lille and Brussels (TGV inOUI and Thalys).

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