Land use; all categories, municipalities

Edit table Show description

Land use; all categories, municipalities
Periods Regions Total surface (ha) Transport Transport total (ha) Built-up area Built-up area total (ha) Semi built-up area Semi built-up area total (ha) Recreation Recreation total (ha) Agriculture Agriculture total (ha) Woodland and nature Woodland and nature total (ha) Woodland and nature Woodland (ha) Woodland and nature Dry natural open area (ha) Woodland and nature Wet natural open area (ha) Inland water Inland water total (ha) Inland water IJsselmeer / Markermeer (ha) Tidal water Tidal water total (ha)
1996 Almere 24,877 648 1,901 1,417 980 5,129 3,020 2,621 5 395 11,782 10,060
2012 Almere 24,877 700 3,142 1,073 1,382 3,256 3,370 2,851 45 474 11,953 10,055
1996 Dronten 42,386 625 790 195 884 27,088 3,686 3,509 18 158 9,119 3,262
2012 Dronten 42,389 588 1,082 312 1,130 26,583 3,676 3,397 152 126 9,020 3,261
1996 Lelystad 76,539 808 1,482 438 773 12,747 7,230 3,677 295 3,258 53,061 51,031
2012 Lelystad 76,545 806 2,116 590 860 10,937 7,746 3,657 1,462 2,628 53,490 50,966
1996 Noordoostpolder 60,032 860 999 174 361 41,697 2,408 2,298 17 93 13,533 10,669
2012 Noordoostpolder 59,543 889 1,377 378 467 40,393 2,501 2,304 18 180 13,537 10,670
1996 Wieringermeer 30,778 378 305 99 76 17,865 760 735 0 25 11,296 10,184
2012 Wieringermeer
1996 Zeewolde 26,897 491 372 105 480 17,909 5,560 5,149 49 362 1,979
2012 Zeewolde 26,886 339 564 195 725 17,263 5,662 5,122 254 286 2,137
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table provides information about the land use of the area of the Netherlands and the changes in land use.

Data available from: 1996.

Status of the figures:
The figures in this table are final.

Changes as of 26 April 2023:
Addition of 2017 figures.

This table is based on the Bestand Bodemgebruik (BBG), which literally translates as the ‘land use file’. For intervening base years without a BBG, this table just presents total area statistics for the presented regions.

Previously published base years in this table are never revised for corrections established when a newer BBG-edition is produced. Such corrections consist of corrections of earlier misinterpretations and of improved interpretations based on new sources. The corrections are recorded in the so-called Mutatiebestand (the mutations file) which is a digital map, being a part of each BBG publication. See Bestand Bodemgebruik for further information on correction of the land use statistics and for available publications.

As of reporting year 2016, Statistics Netherlands no longer publishes data on metropolitan agglomerations and urban regions. Various social developments have rendered the philosophy and methodology underlying the delineation outdated. It furthermore appears that other agencies are using a different classification of metropolitan agglomerations and urban regions depending on the area of application. This means there is no longer a consensus on which standard applies.
The metropolitan agglomerations and urban regions will not be published anymore from 2015 onwards as a default regional figure.

When will new figures be published?
After the addition of the 2017 land use figures all updates to this table will be stopped.

The methodology of the land use statistics, as it has been in use up to the 2017-edition, is being redesigned. See for further information on this redesign and the availability of land use statistics based on the new methodology the web page Bestand Bodemgebruik.

Description topics

Total surface
Total surface of the Netherlands.
Transport
Area in use for traffic and transport on roads, on railways and in the air.
Transport total
Total area of the main group ‘Transport’.
Built-up area
Area in use for residents, work, shopping, cultural facilities and public amenities.
Built-up area total
Total area of the main group ‘Built-on area’.
Semi built-up area
Area with a certain amount of paving, not in use as traffic area or built-up area.
Semi built-up area total
Total area of the main group ‘Semi built-up area’.
Recreation
Area in use for recreation.
Recreation total
Total area of the main group ‘Recreation’.
Agriculture
Area for agriculture.
Agriculture total
Total area of the main group ‘Agriculture’.
Woodland and nature
Area with forest or natural open area.
Woodland and nature total
Total area of the main group ‘Woodland and nature’.
Woodland
Area with trees for wood production and nature conservation.

Including
- area with trees of which the crowns are a closed entity;
- cutting field;
- fire lane;
- forest path;
- nursery of forests;
- storage of wood;
- scattered houses, if placed inside the woodland;
- poplar fields.

Excluding
- wooded areas of parks;
- forest nurseries that are outside the woodland;
- residential areas (with a pattern of streets) and areas of recreational houses inside the woodland.
Dry natural open area
Open area with a dry surface, mainly nature.

Including
- dry heather;
- grasslike natural area (not for agricultural use);
- dunes;
- sand drift;
- sandbar;
- beach.
Wet natural open area
Open area with a wet surface, mainly nature.

Including
- wet heather;
- reed and rush (including cultivations);
- salt marsh (not innundated at normal high tides);
- tidal soil, if barren;
- bluegrass land.

Excluding
- osier bed;
- wet woodland.
Inland water
Inland water in use as waterway, recreational water, mining area, sewage or sludge farm, water reservoir, including IJsselmeer.
Inland water total
Total area of the main group ‘Inland water’.
IJsselmeer / Markermeer
The water enclosed at the Afsluitdijk, the Ketelbrug, the Hollandsebrug at Muiderberg and the Oranjesluizen at Amsterdam.
Tidal water
Water outside the average high tide.
Tidal water total
Total area of the main group ‘Tidal water’.