Introduction

The Netherlands in Numbers, 2020 is the successor to Trends in the Netherlands and the Statistical Yearbooks and Pocket Books. This web publication provides more depth to the booklet of the same name with 38 infographics, and contains text, figures and references for those who want to find out more about a subject.

Hand-picked information

In this special publication, we make no apologies for picking and choosing. From the vast amount of data collected by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), we have carefully selected the figures that form the basis of these 38 special infographics. This enables us to paint a light-hearted but nonetheless accurate picture of how the Netherlands is doing.

Or to be more precise, how the Netherlands was doing up to about March 2020. Since then, the coronavirus outbreak has completely transformed all aspects of life across the globe, and the Netherlands is no exception. One infographic in this publication is devoted to this new reality, while an up-to-date version forms part of the ‘Well-being in times of coronavirus’ dashboard on our website.

A long tradition

CBS can look back on a long tradition of publishing annual figures and yearbooks. The oldest version was issued as the Statistical Pocket Book in 1899, a publication primarily designed to provide policymakers with relevant statistics. Its successor, the Statistical Yearbook, also served that same purpose. Following the advent of the internet, the website and StatLine became repositories of up-to-date information and the publication, now titled ‘Trends in the Netherlands’, took on a more popular character.

The Netherlands in Numbers

Our new approach has meant taking a step back from the comprehensive overview we strived for in earlier publications. We see this as a supplement to the CBS StatLine database, which provides ongoing updates for all our figures. And as a companion piece to our website, where a full range of background information is available. Ultimately, our aim was to handpick an interesting and entertaining selection.

Have fun reading!

The questions

1. How does CBS calculate the figures?
2. How do we use our land?
3. How fast is the population growing?
4. How are the various animal species doing?
5. What are our top concerns?
6. Where do the emigrants go?
7. Who use social media the most?
8. How isolated do we feel?
9. What are our favourite wedding dates? What about partnership registrations?
10. How many under-18s are receiving youth assistance?
11. What about cyber crime?
12. What are the most popular majors?
13. What are the major religions?
14. How many overnight stays?
15. How many people shop online? And the items they buy...
16. Who are eligible to vote?
17. What are young people doing online?
18. How many adults smoke or have smoked?
19. Where were people in the Caribbean Netherlands originally born?
20. Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?
21. How much internet usage in the Caribbean Netherlands?
22. How many people (never) work from home?
23. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
24. Has our purchasing power gone up or down?
25. Which jobs have the highest levels of mental fatigue?
26. How many employees are members of a trade union?
27. How many passengers flying into and out of the Netherlands?
28. How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?
29. How many dwellings in the Netherlands?
30. How much is our average mileage in electric cars?
31. What do we import from China?
32. Which prices are up, which are down?
33. What is our production of frozen fries?
34. How many enterprises in the Netherlands?
35. How much energy do we get from biomass?
36. How much do we recycle?
37. Which flower bulbs are most common?
38. What is the impact of coronavirus?