In 2016, 8.7 million people attended classical and pop concerts throughout the country. This was 3 percent more than in 2015. Other performances drew 9.5 million visitors, 2 percent down on the previous year. Music was well represented in the range of performing arts productions in 2016. Of all programmed performances, well over one-third were concerts. Attendance at performances, concerts in particular, was largely concentrated in the province of Noord-Holland, more specifically in Amsterdam. The capital city of Amsterdam has a number of large event halls. Combined, they drew 17.3 percent of all concertgoers in the Netherlands in 2016.

The number of people working in the performing arts industry has increased again in recent years, after a decline between 2011 and 2013 following public budget cuts. In 2016, 21.7 thousand people were working in performing arts, 8 percent more than in 2013. In the period 2009–2015, there were mainly more volunteers and interns working at theatres and music venues. Their numbers stabilised in 2016, but the number of hired workers (self-employed and payroll professionals) increased.

In 2016, there were 694 museums in the Netherlands, drawing altogether 34.4 million visitors. This represents a 9 percent increase on 2015. The number of foreign visitors rose in particular. Museums in Noord-Holland province are the most popular among Dutch and foreign visitors alike. Noord-Holland is also the province with the highest number of museums: 126 in 2016. In 2016, one-quarter of all museum visits were made with a Museum Card. Dutch museums had nearly 10 thousand people on the payroll in 2016. In addition, they often used volunteers (nearly 35 thousand) and freelancers (5 thousand).

Dutch public libraries lent altogether 2.8 million e-books through an online library system in 2016. This is 74 percent more e-books than in the previous year. Including the free online library for the summer holidays (‘Vakantiebieb’), total e-book lending came to 4.7 million items. E-books form a minor but increasing proportion of total library loans. Physical book loans have decreased by more than half since the late 1980s to a total of 68.5 million books in 2016.

In 2017, 4 in 10 young people (18 to 24 years) indicated they belonged to a religious denomination. This is a much lower share than among the older part of the population. Most believers say they are Roman Catholics. Almost 5 percent indicate they practise the Islamic faith. These are mostly people under the age of 55.

Men are more interested in politics than women. In 2017, 58 percent of men showed an interest in politics, compared to 44 percent of women. Interest in politics declined slightly between 2012 and 2014, but remained stable afterwards.