Living in Alsace, Working Across the Border

Under European regulations, a cross-border worker is a person who lives in one European Union country and works in another, whilst generally returning home every day or at least once a week. The figures presented do not represent a comprehensive count of all workers. They are derived from the population census and provide an estimate of the number of people concerned. Furthermore, they cover a broader scope than the European definition of a cross-border worker alone and include all those in employment who live in Alsace and work abroad.

How many people from Alsace work across the border?

73,800 people of working age living in Alsace work abroad, representing 8.6 per cent of the 856,200 people of working age: approximately 1 in 12.

According to estimates based on this data source, 43,000 people of working age resident in Alsace work in Switzerland and 30,000 in Germany.

Where do they live?

The proportion of workers commuting abroad depends primarily on the distance to the border: the cantons of Saint-Louis, Wissembourg, Altkirch and Brunstatt-Didenheim alone account for almost 50 per cent of the workforce commuting abroad.

In 178 local authorities, more than one in five people of working age work abroad (more than two in five in 88 local authorities).

Switzerland or Germany?

59% of workers going abroad head for Switzerland, whilst 40% go to Germany. The map showing the main destination by canton reveals a dividing line: the south of the country tends towards Switzerland, whilst the north and centre tend towards Germany.

Where, exactly, do workers who go to Switzerland work?

Inflows into Switzerland are heavily concentrated in the cantons of Basel-Stadt (55 per cent of workers in Switzerland) and Basel-Landschaft (25 per cent).

And what about those going to Germany?

As regards Germany, labour flows are more dispersed along the Rhine, with the Karlsruhe labour market exerting a strong pull to the north and the Freiburg region exerting a slightly lesser influence. Generally speaking, Baden-Württemberg accounts for 88 per cent of the workforce employed in Germany.

What jobs do they do?

37% of workers who commute across the French border are manual workers, compared with 23% of the total workforce in Alsace.

Executives account for 22% of the working population living in France who work in Switzerland and 16% of those working in Germany.

In which sectors?

33% of workers abroad are employed in industry, whereas in Alsace it accounts for only 17% of the workforce.

Are there fewer women amongst workers abroad?

Women account for 37% of workers abroad, compared with 48% of the total workforce in Alsace.

Does age play a decisive role for employees working abroad?

People aged 55 and over account for 25% of the workforce employed abroad, compared with 19% of the total workforce in Alsace.

Are cars the preferred means of transport for workers abroad?

88% of cross-border workers travel to work by car (compared with 72% of the total workforce in Alsace). The use of public transport is more common for journeys to Switzerland (10%) than to Germany (3.4%).

Data information

The data presented relates solely to working-age people living in Alsace and working abroad.

It should be noted that the figures presented were calculated using INSEE’s detailed ‘Individual Labour Mobility’ dataset (2023). In accordance with INSEE’s methodological recommendations, the results are obtained by summing the individual weight of each record (IPONDI variable) in order to produce estimates representative of the population. These are therefore estimates that should be analysed with caution, particularly when the figures are below 200.