How are the various animal species doing?

Land and freshwater-based fauna in the Netherlands saw their numbers grow by slightly over 1 percent between 1990 and 2019. 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 (26 species are declining, 15 are increasing). On average, freshwater-based species are on the right track. For example, 36 species of dragonflies have increased in distribution, while 11 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, CBS makes use of observations mainly collected by volunteers, but also in part by professional observers. Examining the trends in conjunction makes it possible 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 shows the average trend for 351 breeding birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies, mammals and freshwater fishes living in the Netherlands. This index rose by slightly more than 1 percent in the period 1990–2019. It 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 whereas those found in forests, fresh water and marshes have increased.

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

Land and freshwater fauna (trend 1990=100)

	Observation	Trend	Confidence interval (low)	Confidence interval (high)
1990	102	100	95 − 105	95 − 105
1991	98	99	95 − 103	95 − 103
1992	101	98	95 − 101	95 − 101
1993	95	98	95 − 100	95 − 100
1994	92	97	95 − 100	95 − 100
1995	98	97	95 − 99	95 − 99
1996	95	97	95 − 99	95 − 99
1997	98	97	95 − 99	95 − 99
1998	99	98	95 − 100	95 − 100
1999	96	98	96 − 101	96 − 101
2000	101	99	97 − 101	97 − 101
2001	97	100	98 − 102	98 − 102
2002	102	101	98 − 103	98 − 103
2003	104	102	99 − 104	99 − 104
2004	101	102	100 − 104	100 − 104
2005	105	103	101 − 105	101 − 105
2006	104	103	101 − 105	101 − 105
2007	102	104	102 − 106	102 − 106
2008	101	104	102 − 106	102 − 106
2009	108	105	102 − 106	102 − 106
2010	106	105	103 − 106	103 − 106
2011	106	105	103 − 106	103 − 106
2012	100	105	103 − 106	103 − 106
2013	104	105	103 − 106	103 − 106
2014	107	104	103 − 106	103 − 106
2015	104	104	102 − 105	102 − 105
2016	103	103	102 − 105	102 − 105
2017	105	103	101 − 104	101 − 104
2018	102	102	100 − 104	100 − 104
2019	101	101	99 − 104	99 − 104

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 around 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 datatableButterflies and dragonflies (trend 1992=100)Hide datatableButterflies 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	104	105	95 − 116	95 − 116	116	100	91 − 110	91 − 110
1993	100	110	102 − 118	102 − 118	89	92	86 − 99	86 − 99
1994	110	115	108 − 122	108 − 122	64	85	80 − 90	80 − 90
1995	119	120	114 − 125	114 − 125	89	80	76 − 83	76 − 83
1996	127	125	120 − 130	120 − 130	79	75	72 − 78	72 − 78
1997	141	131	127 − 136	127 − 136	72	71	69 − 74	69 − 74
1998	139	137	133 − 141	133 − 141	71	68	66 − 71	66 − 71
1999	139	143	138 − 147	138 − 147	52	66	63 − 68	63 − 68
2000	146	150	146 − 153	146 − 153	69	64	61 − 66	61 − 66
2001	144	156	153 − 161	153 − 161	51	62	60 − 64	60 − 64
2002	160	163	159 − 166	159 − 166	67	61	59 − 63	59 − 63
2003	182	169	166 − 173	166 − 173	76	60	58 − 62	58 − 62
2004	174	175	173 − 178	173 − 178	58	59	58 − 61	58 − 61
2005	175	181	178 − 183	178 − 183	63	59	58 − 61	58 − 61
2006	192	184	181 − 187	181 − 187	61	59	58 − 61	58 − 61
2007	198	187	185 − 189	185 − 189	46	59	58 − 61	58 − 61
2008	194	188	187 − 191	187 − 191	45	59	58 − 60	58 − 60
2009	190	189	187 − 191	187 − 191	73	59	58 − 61	58 − 61
2010	186	189	187 − 191	187 − 191	74	59	58 − 61	58 − 61
2011	178	188	185 − 189	185 − 189	65	60	58 − 61	58 − 61
2012	185	186	183 − 189	183 − 189	45	60	59 − 62	59 − 62
2013	182	185	183 − 187	183 − 187	68	60	59 − 61	59 − 61
2014	177	185	183 − 187	183 − 187	69	59	58 − 60	58 − 60
2015	185	185	183 − 187	183 − 187	54	58	56 − 59	56 − 59
2016	178	184	183 − 185	183 − 185	49	56	55 − 58	55 − 58
2017	179	184	183 − 185	183 − 185	66	54	53 − 55	53 − 55
2018	191	184	183 − 185	183 − 185	56	52	51 − 53	51 − 53
2019	186	185	183 − 187	183 − 187	46	50	49 − 51	49 − 51
28	188	185	183 − 187	183 − 187	45	47	46 − 48	46 − 48

The questions

1. How are figures calculated by CBS?
2. How many dwellings in the Netherlands?
3. How fast is the Dutch population growing?
4. How tall are Dutch people?
5. How many farm animals are there in the Netherlands?
6. Which jobs often cause a poor work-life balance?
7. How many diamond wedding couples are there?
8. How much energy is from renewable sources?
9. How many people fall victim to domestic violence?
10. How many people use the Internet of Things?
11. What are the major religions?
12. What are the most popular majors?
13. What do people die of on an average day?
14. How much water do we consume?
15. What do we buy online?
16. How are the various animal species doing?
17. How many under-23s receive youth assistance?
18. Which flower bulbs are most common?
19. How many companies in the Netherlands?
20. Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?
21. How do we use our land?
22. How many electric cars are driving around?
23. Which jobs have the highest levels of mental fatigue?
24. How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?
25. How many workers belong to a trade union?
26. How much have food prices gone up?
27. Where were people in the Caribbean Netherlands originally born?
28. How many families are at risk of poverty?
29. How sustainable is our behaviour?
30. What do we import from China?
31. How many girls become teenage mothers?
32. Has our purchasing power gone up or down?
33. How many adults smoke?
34. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
35. How many tourists stay overnight in the Netherlands?
36. How does CBS handle your privacy?