Brussels settles at 55% working from home, with intensive homeworking up tenfold since 2019
New figures from the Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis show that 55% of people working in the Brussels-Capital Region did at least some work from home in 2025, against roughly 25% in 2019. The share has barely fallen from its 2021 peak of just above 60%.
The sharper movement is in intensity. Homeworking for at least half of total working hours has risen tenfold since 2019, and now covers a quarter of workers. Commuters into Brussels work from home considerably more than residents do — 62% against 47%, and 32% against 18% for intensive homeworking. Fully permanent homeworking remains rare, at 2%.
Why this matters
The commuter-versus-resident gap is the number to pay attention to if you are considering where to live relative to a Brussels job. People travelling into the city have negotiated, or been granted, substantially more home-based working than those who live there — which suggests distance from the office is itself a factor in what employers agree to. If you are weighing a longer commute against a shorter one, the longer one may come with more flexibility attached rather than less.
The 2% figure is the useful corrective in the other direction. Fully remote roles remain unusual even in a city where hybrid working is now the majority experience. A Brussels-based job search aimed exclusively at permanently remote positions is fishing in a very small pool; one aimed at substantial home-based working is fishing in a large one.
Context
BISA notes a measurement caveat worth carrying: its Labour Force Survey measure captures “work at home”, which overlaps with but is not identical to telework as employment law defines it. Someone answering email on a Sunday is not in the same position as someone with a formal telework agreement, and this measure does not separate them.
The Brussels figure sits well above Germany’s 24.9%, though the two are measured differently — the German number comes from a survey of companies, the Brussels one from a survey of individuals.