1 in 5 Dutch people did not go on holiday in 2023

© Hollandse Hoogte / Michel Utrecht
In 2023, Dutch people aged 15 years and over went on holiday 2.5 times, on average, totalling 37.6 million holidays. Not everyone went on holiday however, and over 19 percent stayed at home. That was 32 percent in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Since 2021, the number of people staying at home has been falling again. A third of those who did not go on holiday said that they preferred to stay at home. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new figures taken from the Holiday survey.


Who stayed at home?

Older people were more likely to stay at home than younger people: a total of 44 percent of people aged 75 and over said they had not been on holiday, compared to 12 percent of those aged 15 to 24. This is also influenced by income: among the 25 percent with the lowest household incomes (1st quartile group), 38 percent stayed at home, compared to 8 percent of those in the highest income group. In addition, people from single-person households or single-parent families were more likely not to go on holiday than those from other household types.

1 in 3 young people not going on holiday prefer to stay at home

Over 33 percent of people aged 15 and over who did not go on holiday in 2023 said they did not like going on holiday and preferred to stay at home. Other reasons mentioned were health and lack of money for holidays. Staying at home for safety reasons, or lack of time due to work, study or family commitments, were the reasons mentioned least often for not going on holiday.

 

Health main reason for older people to stay at home

For 43 percent of people aged 65 and over who stayed at home, health was the main reason for not going on holiday. Among those aged 45 to 64, a preference for staying at home is the main reason for not going on holiday. The main reasons mentioned were: being busy at work or with studies, or lack of money, particularly for people aged below 45. Both reasons were mentioned by 37 percent of respondents in this age group.

No money for holidays

Lack of money is particularly prevalent among people aged below 45, and among those in the lowest income group. A total of 44 percent of the latter group said they did not go on holiday for this reason. For the high-income (4th quartile group) and middle-income groups (2nd and 3rd quartile groups), this share was much lower (around 20 percent).