CBS stats reveal how long the Dutch spend sitting down

New figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have revealed just how long the Dutch spend sitting down. Working hours often make it hard to be active.

Dutch spend around 9 hours sitting down every day

According to figures from the National Working Conditions Survey and published by CBS, people in the Netherlands spend an average of nine hours sitting down on a working day. The survey asked 6.000 employees in the country about their activities at work.

The average amount of time spent sitting down has increased from 8,6 hours in 2019 to 8,8 hours in 2024, but the general trend remains unchanged - work often requires us to sit for longer than is beneficial for our health.

According to the National Working Conditions Survey, the average employee in the Netherlands spends 4,5 hours sitting at work, one hour sitting while driving or on public transport, and around 3,3 of their daily relaxation hours sitting down.

It’s not just about how long we are sitting, but how long we are sitting without a break to move around. Sitting for long, uninterrupted periods slows our metabolism and is widely linked to being overweight, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and premature death.

Following a previous 2024 study by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the country was named the “European champion of sitting”. No other EU country has such a large share of the population sitting for so many hours per day.

Convenience service apps mean we move less

While the Netherlands likes to think of itself as an active country, according to a report by NOS, Maria Hopman of the Radboud University Medical Centre called even the CBS figures a “frugal estimate”. 

According to Hopman, there are several reasons why the Dutch are chronic sitters. Many people in the Netherlands work in industries where employees spend a lot of time at a desk, such as IT and administration.

Additionally, recent years have seen an explosion in service industry apps which purport to remove all possible inconveniences from our lives. But many of these tasks, such as shopping, walking to public transport, going to a restaurant or for an in-person consultation at the doctor, are the ways we incorporate light exercise into our daily routine.