Jobs and the Future of Work

COVID-19: how many remote workers are there in different parts of Europe?

Working from home, or WFH, has become the norm for millions across Europe as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More people than ever across Europe are working remotely. Image: REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

Niall McCarthy
Data Journalist, Statista
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This article is part of: The Jobs Reset Summit
  • Social distancing has accelerated the trend of remote working.
  • Around 5% of Europeans regularly worked from home before COVID-19, that figure has now risen to around 12.3%.
  • Finland now has the highest share of remote workers in Europe, with 25.1% of workers regularly working from home.
  • Luxembourg and Ireland follow, both having home working shares of over 20%.
  • Remote working rates are far lower in parts of Eastern Europe.

The social distancing measures introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many people to work from home and accelerated the trend of remote working. Eurostat have released some interesting new data showing the share of employed people aged between 15 and 64 in Europe who usually do home office. Over the past decade, that has been hovering at around five percent and the pandemic has seen it rise to 12.3 percent.

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a chart showing Where Europeans Get To Work From Home
Finland now has the highest share of remote workers in the EU. Image: Statista

With a quarter of its employed residents usually working from home, Finland now has the highest share of remote workers in the EU. It is followed by Luxembourg and Ireland, both of which have home working shares in excess of 20 percent. Home office rates are far lower in parts of Eastern Europe and it's practically unknown in Bulgaria and Romania where the share is just 1.2 percent and 2.5 percent respectively. This infographic shows the situation across the continent and it also includes rates in EEA countries - Iceland, Switzerland and Norway. UK data was not available.

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