Supermarket within walking distance for most Dutch people
On average, people in the Netherlands live 0.9 kilometres from their nearest supermarket. Eight out of ten Dutch people have at least one supermarket within a kilometre of their home.
Supermarkets furthest for people in Drenthe and Friesland
Distances to local supermarkets differ between the provinces. People living in Drenthe and Friesland have to travel furthest to the nearest supermarket, 1.2 kilometres on average. The distance was shortest for people in North and South Holland: 0.7 of a kilometre on average.
Average distance to nearest supermarket, by province
Within the provinces, too, distances to the nearest supermarket varied. The differences are largest in Flevoland. Inhabitants of Centrum Swifterbant, a small neighbourhood in Dronten, lived 70 metres from the nearest supermarket on average, while those living in Zuidlob in Zeewolde had to travel nearly 10 kilometres on average to get their shopping done.
Short distances on the Wadden islands
Although many provisions are absent or only limited on the Wadden islands, supermarkets are relatively abundant. On Texel, the nearest supermarket was 0.9 of kilometre away on average, the same as the average for the whole of the country. Residents of Vlieland and Schiermonnikoog needed to travel only 0.6 of a kilometre to get their groceries, and those on Ameland only 0.4 of a kilometre.
Widest choice in large cities
Supermarkets are most strongly concentrated in the large cities. People living in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht had the choice of at least three supermarkets within 1 kilometre. The Da Costa neighbourhood in Amsterdam and The Hague’s Zuidwal neighbourhood even counted more than ten supermarkets within one kilometre.
In regions where supermarkets are close, other shops for daily groceries are also nearby. In six neighbourhoods in Amsterdam and one in The Hague there were even more than one hundred of these shops within a kilometre.
Average number of other shops for groceries within 1 kilometres, by neighbourhood
Other shops for groceries nearest in North and South Holland
The average distance to the nearest other shop for groceries was shortest in North and South Holland in 2008 - 0.6 of a kilometre - and longest in Flevoland, 1.3 kilometres. People living in the neighbourhood Middengebied in Zeewolde had to travel the furthest to the shops: more than 10 kilometres. The nearest supermarket to this neighbourhood was also relatively far away, at 8.8 kilometres.
Average number of other shops for groceries within 1 kilometre, by province
Osman Baydar, Chantal Melser and Marijn Zuurmond