Number of Museum Card holders in the Netherlands reaches record high
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By Simone Jacobs
The number of people in the Netherlands who have a Museum Card has risen to a record high, with the new digital version driving growth.
More Dutch residents sign up for Museum Card
The Museum Card in the Netherlands allows users unlimited access to over 500 museums throughout the country for an entire year. It costs just 75 euros per year for adults and 39 euros for children up to an including the age of 18.
Research by the Museum Association has revealed that in 2025, 1,54 million people in the Netherlands owned a Museum Card - 3,2 percent more than a year before. The organisation attributes this growth largely to the introduction of the digital version of the card.
The digital Museum Card was launched in 2025, allowing residents to use the card on an app on their mobile phones. Around 500.000 people have digital Museum Cards, making up approximately 33 percent of the total number of cardholders.
"This development makes the card even more user-friendly and further lowers the barrier to museum visits. After all, you always have your phone with you," director of the Museum Association and Museum Card Foundation Vera Carasso said in a press release.
Museum Card increases Dutch museum visits
Not only were there more Museum Card holders in 2025, but there was also a spike in the number of cardholders visiting museums. In 2025, a person with a Museum Card visited a museum an average of 6,46 times per year. A total of more than 9,7 million museum visits were recorded last year from cardholders alone - 200.000 more than in 2024 and a new record high!
Research by the Museum Association showed that Museum Card holders were three times more likely to visit a Dutch museum compared to people without the card. Cardholders often bring non-carholders along too, bringing in 700.000 additional visitors each year.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more