More Dutch wages go abroad with cross-border commuters, migrant workers

Much more wages flow from the Netherlands to foreign countries than ten years ago. This includes people who work in our country but live across the border in Germany or Belgium. However, there are also more temporary migrant workers from other European Union member states, such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland.

In the second quarter of 2024, 3.3 billion euros in wages went from the Netherlands to foreign countries. That is 73 percent more than in the same period in 2014, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). This increase cannot only be attributed to the general increase in wages because the total sum of all wages in the Netherlands increased by 54 percent.

The increase in Dutch wages going to Romania and Bulgaria is particularly striking. Where in the second quarter of 2014 it was still 19 million euros, ten years later, it had increased to 451 million euros. The increase coincides with a change in the law that allowed Romanians and Bulgarians to work in the Netherlands without a work permit after 1 January 2014.

The largest amounts went to Belgium, Poland, and Germany. Employees with a Dutch salary and a Belgian or German place of residence are typically. cross-border commuters, who travel to the Netherlands for their work every day. Poles are more often seasonal workers.