EU-27 (2025)
9
% of employed persons
-0.1pp YoY
Highest
21.1
Finland
Lowest
1.3
Romania
Countries
27
EU member states

Data

Country% of employed personsYoY Change
Finland21.1+0.9pp
Ireland19.3-1.3pp
Belgium13.6-0.5pp
Sweden13.4-0.8pp
Germany13.2+0.1pp
Malta12.5+0.4pp
Netherlands11.9-1.1pp
Luxembourg11.6-1.8pp
Estonia11.4-1.6pp
France11.3+0pp
Austria11+0pp
Portugal8.9+0.2pp
Latvia8.7+0.2pp
Denmark8.2-0.2pp
Spain8+0.1pp
Slovenia7.5+0.5pp
Slovakia7.4+1.7pp
Czechia6.9-0.1pp
Poland6.1+0.6pp
Lithuania5.2+0pp
Croatia4.9+0.2pp
Hungary4.4+0.2pp
Cyprus4.3+0.3pp
Italy2.7-1.1pp
Greece2.3-0.4pp
Bulgaria1.6+0.4pp
Romania1.3+0.1pp

About this Dataset

The share of EU employed persons who usually work from home stood at 9% in 2025. Before COVID-19, the EU-27 rate had been broadly stable near 5.7% (2019). Pandemic restrictions drove a near-tripling to 13.5% in 2021; the rate has since partially normalised but remains well above its pre-2020 floor — indicating a lasting structural shift in European work patterns.

The 19.8-percentage-point spread separating Finland (21.1%) from Romania (1.3%) reflects stark differences in industrial structure, digital infrastructure, and workplace culture. Nordic and Benelux economies dominate the upper tier; southern and eastern member states, with larger manufacturing and in-person services sectors, cluster at the lower end.

Data sourced from Eurostat Labour Force Survey via SDMX REST API (LFSA_EHOMP, frequenc=USU). All values are harmonised across member states using consistent LFS methodology to ensure cross-country comparability.

Coverage spans 2002 through 2025 and is updated annually. The chart above traces the EU-27 aggregate trend; the table below ranks all member states by their 2025 reading with year-on-year changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

In 2025, **9%** of employed persons across the EU-27 usually worked from home — meaning home is their primary work location on the majority of working days. The EU-27 figure peaked at 13.5% in 2021 during COVID-19 remote-work mandates, then partially retreated to the current level, which remains roughly double the pre-2020 baseline of ~5.7%.
Finland (21.1%) leads EU member states in usual home working, with Romania (1.3%) at the other end of a 19.8-percentage-point spread. The gap largely reflects differences in industrial structure: high-WFH countries have knowledge-intensive economies (ICT, finance, professional services) with a high share of home-compatible roles, while low-WFH countries have larger manufacturing, agriculture, and in-person services sectors.
Before 2020, the EU-27 usually-from-home rate had been broadly stable at around 5.7% for over a decade. The pandemic triggered a rapid surge to 13.5% by 2021 as member states imposed remote-work obligations. Since then, the rate has partially normalised — settling at 9% in 2025, approximately 3.3pp above the pre-COVID baseline. This structural residual suggests lasting change in working patterns rather than a full reversal.
Eurostat collects this indicator through the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS), using harmonised questionnaires across all member states. A person is classified as 'usually working from home' if their home is the main work location for the majority of their working days in a typical week. The population base is all employed persons aged 15 and over. Data are collected annually and published at NUTS-0 (country) level, with the EU-27 aggregate derived by population-weighting member state results. Eurostat dataset code: LFSA_EHOMP (frequenc=USU).
The share of usually-from-home workers is a leading indicator for commercial office demand, urban–rural demographic flows, and IT infrastructure investment. The post-2021 stabilisation at ~9% — well above the pre-COVID floor — supports a structural repricing of city-centre office assets across high-WFH markets. Countries with low remote-work penetration (below 5%) retain stronger in-office culture and correspondingly more resilient urban office demand fundamentals. Cross-country variance in WFH rates also informs talent-location strategies and employer-of-record decisions for PE-backed pan-European businesses.