How are the various animal species doing?

Land and freshwater-based fauna in the Netherlands saw their numbers grow by 3 percent between 1990 and 2018. However, there are significant differences per group of species.noot1 Across the board, the majority of land-based species are declining in number, such as butterflies (25 species are declining, 14 are increasing). On average, freshwater-based species are on the right track. For example, 37 species of dragonflies have increased in distribution, while 10 species have declined.

CBS calculates trends in the size of the population and the area of distribution of a large number of plant and animal species found in Dutch nature. To do this, we make use of observations mainly collected by volunteers, but also in part by professional observers. Examining the trends in conjunction allows us to form a reasonably complete impression of the state and development of Dutch nature.

Slight increase of land and freshwater-based fauna

The indicator ‘fauna of land and freshwater’ (also called the Dutch Living Planet Index or LPInoot2 reflects the average trend of 357 species of breeding birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies and freshwater fish that inhabit the Netherlands. This indicator rose by 3 percent in the Netherlands in the period 1990–2018. This has been stable over the last 12 years, but each type of nature reserve exhibits differences in developments. For example, animal species typically found in heathland, dunes and on agricultural land have declined on average while those found in forests, fresh water and marshes have increased.

Show tableLand and freshwater fauna (trend 1990=100)Hide tableLand and freshwater fauna (trend 1990=100)

Land and freshwater fauna (trend 1990=100)

	Observation	Trend	Confidence interval (low)	Confidence interval (high)
1990	103	100	95 - 105	95 - 105
1991	96	99	95 - 103	95 - 103
1992	101	98	95 - 101	95 - 101
1993	96	97	95 - 100	95 - 100
1994	91	97	95 - 100	95 - 100
1995	98	97	94 - 99	94 - 99
1996	95	97	95 - 100	95 - 100
1997	98	97	95 - 100	95 - 100
1998	99	98	95 - 100	95 - 100
1999	96	99	97 - 101	97 - 101
2000	103	100	98 - 103	98 - 103
2001	97	101	99 - 104	99 - 104
2002	102	102	100 - 104	100 - 104
2003	106	103	100 - 105	100 - 105
2004	102	103	101 - 106	101 - 106
2005	106	104	102 - 106	102 - 106
2006	106	104	102 - 107	102 - 107
2007	103	105	103 - 107	103 - 107
2008	102	105	103 - 107	103 - 107
2009	108	105	103 - 107	103 - 107
2010	106	105	103 - 107	103 - 107
2011	107	105	103 - 107	103 - 107
2012	101	105	104 - 107	104 - 107
2013	105	105	104 - 107	104 - 107
2014	109	105	104 - 107	104 - 107
2015	106	105	103 - 107	103 - 107
2016	104	105	103 - 106	103 - 106
2017	106	104	102 - 106	102 - 106
2018	101	104	101 - 106	101 - 106

Fewer butterflies, more dragonflies

In addition to differences between nature areas, there are also major differences between groups of species. The groups of species of which the majority are land-based have on average declined over the past thirty years, while groups of species that are mainly freshwater-based have on average thrived during this period. For example, butterfly (land-based) numbers have halved compared to 1992. Butterfly species such as the wood white, brown argus, cranberry blue, cranberry fritillary and common ringlet are experiencing a declining trend. The distribution of dragonfliesnoot3 (freshwater-based) has increased by about 50 percent since 1992, although the trend has been declining in recent years. Typical southern species such as the southern black-tailed skimmer, southern emperor dragonfly, southern aeshnid, scarlet dragonfly and wandering darters are spreading ever more widely.

Show tableButterflies and dragonflies (trend 1992=100)Hide tableButterflies and dragonflies (trend 1992=100)

Butterflies and dragonflies (trend 1992=100)

	Dragonflies - Observation	Dragonflies - Trend	Dragonflies - Confidence interval (low)	Dragonflies - Confidence interval (high)	Butterflies - Observation	Butterflies - Trend	Butterflies - Confidence interval (low)	Butterflies - Confidence interval (high)
1992	101	100	81 – 124	81 – 124	116	100	93 - 108	93 - 108
1993	96	103	87 – 122	87 – 122	89	92	86 - 97	86 - 97
1994	101	106	93 – 123	93 – 123	63	84	80 - 89	80 - 89
1995	112	110	97 – 124	97 – 124	88	79	76 - 82	76 - 82
1996	113	113	101 – 128	101 – 128	79	74	71 - 77	71 - 77
1997	123	117	104 – 133	104 – 133	71	70	67 - 73	67 - 73
1998	121	121	106 – 137	106 – 137	69	67	64 - 69	64 - 69
1999	122	125	110 – 141	110 – 141	51	64	61 - 67	61 - 67
2000	128	129	114 – 146	114 – 146	66	62	59 - 64	59 - 64
2001	126	133	118 – 151	118 – 151	50	60	58 - 63	58 - 63
2002	138	137	120 – 156	120 – 156	64	59	57 - 62	57 - 62
2003	150	142	125 – 161	125 – 161	73	58	56 - 61	56 - 61
2004	144	146	130 – 164	130 – 164	55	57	55 - 60	55 - 60
2005	147	150	133 – 169	133 – 169	63	57	55 - 59	55 - 59
2006	157	152	136 – 171	136 – 171	58	57	54 - 59	54 - 59
2007	158	154	138 – 171	138 – 171	44	57	54 - 59	54 - 59
2008	155	154	138 – 171	138 – 171	44	57	54 - 59	54 - 59
2009	156	154	138 – 172	138 – 172	71	57	54 - 59	54 - 59
2010	152	154	138 – 171	138 – 171	70	57	54 - 59	54 - 59
2011	148	153	138 – 169	138 – 169	62	57	55 - 59	55 - 59
2012	151	152	138 – 167	138 – 167	44	57	55 - 59	55 - 59
2013	150	152	138 – 166	138 – 166	65	57	55 - 59	55 - 59
2014	146	151	138 – 164	138 – 164	65	56	54 - 58	54 - 58
2015	151	150	138 – 162	138 – 162	52	55	54 - 58	54 - 58
2016	147	149	138 – 161	138 – 161	48	55	53 - 57	53 - 57
2017	144	149	137 – 161	137 – 161	63	53	51 - 55	51 - 55
2018	155	148	136 – 162	136 – 162	54	52	50 - 54	50 - 54
2019	148	147	132 – 164	132 – 164	45	50	47 - 53	47 - 53

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?