Introduction and significance of the theme
Visiting and practising culture is an important form of leisure activity for many Dutch people: nine in ten Dutch people visit one or more cultural activities every year and almost two thirds practice a cultural hobby every year. There are also people who actively support the cultural sector, for example as volunteers. The importance of culture, art and heritage for both individuals and society cannot be underestimated. Participating in art and culture, for example, contributes to our mental and physical health, is an important source of meaning and personal development, and it brings people together (Gielen et al. 2020; Berkers et al. 2021; LKCA 2023).
Visiting and participating in culture is unevenly distributed across the population (see Annual report 2021 for the Dutch context and Ateca-Amestoy et al. 2023 regarding the United States). Previous research has shown, for example, that education, income and age play a role in the extent to which people visit, consume and practice culture. In recent years, the government's cultural policy has explicitly focused on increasing the accessibility of culture for all (Engelshoven 2019; Uslu 2023).
Through the Leisure omnibus (VTO), we examine trends in visiting and practising culture, art and heritage and contrast these with personal characteristics. The VTO is a biennial
As in previous VTO publications, we use a refined definition of culture, consisting of art and heritage. Here, art represents the parts of culture that focus on the artistic dimension: performing arts, visual arts, literature and film and video art. The historical dimension characterises the components of culture that fall under heritage. This includes both tangible and intangible heritage.
In 2020, we observed a sharp decline in arts and culture participation due to the Covid crisis (see
The return to culture also does not apply equally to all groups in society. Although for many groups cultural visits in 2022 are back to pre-Covid levels, the number of visits among people in higher age groups and those with a secondary education or no further education does not yet appear to have recovered by 2022. It also appears that digital culture attendance, a form of culture that gained in popularity during the Covid years, is a widely adopted form of cultural attendance. Visiting online shows or performances, for instance, is about evenly distributed across the population: only among those educated at higher vocational or university level attend relatively more.
On this page we discuss the results of the most recent measurement of the VTO from 2022. We compare these with two recent measurements (2018, 2020), to establish a good picture of the situation before, during and after the Covid pandemic. Here we discuss four forms of cultural participation:
- Attendance : How is visiting theaters or museums developing? And what proportion of Dutch people visit historical places or archives?
- Consumption : What can be observed regarding the reading behaviour of Dutch people? And which media do people prefer to use to listen to music? Or watch movies?
- Participation : How many Dutch people have a cultural hobby?
- Endorsement and support : What is the level of satisfaction with the cultural offers in the living environment? And what share of the population actively supports the cultural sector?
Looking at figures from 2022 and earlier, we get an idea of the situation until just after the Covid crisis. Since 2022, the cultural sector has also faced other challenges in terms of cost increases due to inflation and tight labour markets. The effects of these developments on arts and cultural participation will become clear in the next VTO measurement in 2024.
Attendance
Nine in ten Dutch people visit a cultural activity at least once a year. While the figures from industry associations already showed that visitation figures dropped significantly during the Covid years, in the VTO we also see a sharp decline in cultural visits overall in 2020. This is not surprising: it was precisely this form of cultural participation that faced the most impactful measures during the Covid period. The share of Dutch people who made at least one visit to cultural activities in a year fell from 90 per cent in 2018 to 73 per cent in 2020. In 2022, we see that the share of culture-visitors has risen substantially again: 87 per cent of Dutch people visited one or more cultural activities. Those who visit culture still did so with less regularity in 2022 than in 2018: the average number of visits in 2022 is 16, compared to 18 visits in 2018.
Culture visits
Percentage of Dutch people aged 6 years and older who visited some forms of culture, art or heritage and the average frequency of visits
VTO 2012 – 2022
Although cultural visits will almost return to pre-Covid pandemic levels in 2022, there is a clear difference between art and heritage visits. Even though both forms of cultural visits will increase again after 2020, only the visit figures for heritage appear to have returned to pre-Covid levels. In both 2018 and 2022, around 67 percent of Dutch people visited heritage sites, compared to less than half of the Dutch population in 2020 (49 percent).
For art attendance, the situation is different: although we also see the whole of art attendance rebounding after the dip in the Covid years (from 64 per cent in 2020 to 82 per cent in 2022), this is not yet equal to pre-Covid levels. Indeed, in 2018, 87 per cent of the Dutch visited one of the arts divisions. For arts visits, the average frequency of visits is relatively high: on average, visitors to the arts visit 12 per year. This includes the highest number of visits to performing arts (an average of 7 performances per year), although the average before Covid was even higher (9 performances per year). We also see a relatively high frequency of visits among visual arts audiences: on average, people visit visual arts venues 6 times a year.
Cultural visits based on personal characteristics
Culture attendance is not evenly distributed across the Dutch population throughout the years. The share of cultural visitors differs most when we look at age, education level and income, as previous editions of the VTO have already shown (see Annual Report 2021). That is, the range for culture attendance is greatest among young people, people who are HBO or WO graduates or who fall into the highest income category.
Existing social disparities in culture attendance continued to increase during the Covid pandemic (Goedhart et al., 2021). While culture attendance for all groups showed a decline in 2020, this decline was strongest for groups within which culture attendance was already relatively less frequent. For instance, the difference in share of culture attendance between the lowest and highest education categories in 2018 was 22 percent, in 2020 it was 39 percent and in 2022 bounced back to 26 percent. Similar effects were visible for differences in age, household income, national origin (herkomst) and (physical) disabilities.
In 2022, we see cultural attendance increasing again across the board, however, the increase in attendance is not the same for each group. Among lower educated people, for example, at 68 per cent in 2022, the share of cultural visitors is still 7 percentage points lower than in 2018, while for HBO-/WO-educated people, at 94 per cent in 2022, it is only 3 percentage points lower than in 2018. Similar trends are visible for factors such as age, household income and degree of urbanisation (see table 2.1).
There are several groups in which the share of cultural attendees in 2022 lags relatively more strongly compared to the situation in 2018. Among people with a disability or condition, in 2022 attendance remains significantly lower (between 7 and 9 percentage points) compared to 2018, while for people without disability it is already almost back to its pre-Covid level (1 percentage point lower).
In 2022, we also see differences in the amount of culture attendance when looking at national origin of audiences: in particular, Dutch people born in a
Art visits based on personal characteristics
Looking more specifically at arts attendance (including performing arts, visual arts, film and literature), we see similar patterns as for culture attendance as a
Particularly among vulnerable groups, we see that the arts attendance rate remains relatively low in 2022. For example, two in three people with a physical, visual or auditory disability (66 per cent) visited at least one activity within the arts, compared to almost nine in ten people without a disability (87 per cent). As such, the difference between people with or without disabilities will remain the same in 2022 as in 2020.
Among older age groups too, such as people of pre-retirement age (50 - 65 years) and over-65s, the proportion of arts visitors in 2022 remains relatively low: 77 and 65 per cent respectively, compared to 89 per cent and higher within other age groups.
Performing arts
For
*** Since 2018, different music genres have been merged into one option for pop music concerts.
The majority of visits to the performing arts occur in the music concerts domain: 36 percent of Dutch people attended a pop music concert in 2022. In addition, one in five (19 percent) attended theatre performances and dance and house events (18 percent) are attended by a relatively large group of Dutch people.
Within the performing arts, attendance of dance or house events are the only category that returned to pre-Covid levels in 2022: after halving from 16 percent in 2018 to 8 percent in 2020, 18 percent of Dutch people will visit a dance or house event in 2022.
There are also disciplines within the performing arts that have not yet recovered after the Covid pandemic. For instance, we observe that classical music and opera, after falling from 18 per cent in 2018 to 8 per cent in 2020, have not yet fully rebounded by 2022 (12 per cent). Figures from CBS (see Music domain) show a similar development: despite the number of performances of classical music organised in 2022 being back to pre-Covid levels, the number of visits still lags.
Performing arts visits based on personal characteristics
Performing arts attendance varies most by age, level of education and household income. Among younger age groups in particular, there are relatively many people who occasionally visit performing arts, as well as among those with higher or university education or high household incomes.
More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of young adults visited performing arts one or more times in 2022, well above the national average (68 per cent) and higher than the level in 2018 (75 per cent). In contrast, we see that the share of performing arts attendances among over-50s is significantly lower (6 to 9 percentage points) than in 2018 (see table 2.3 C).
Educational attainment is also an important factor in performing arts attendance: half of those with a lower education (49 per cent) attended a performance or concert in 2022, but among those with a higher education (HBO) and (WO), this was more than three-quarters (76 per cent). This difference of around thirty per cent has remained stable over the years.
While performing arts attendance among people without disabilities is as high in 2022 as it was in 2018 (73 per cent), the same is not true for people with disabilities. Thus, attendance among people with physical, visual and/or hearing impairments is lower in 2022 than among people without disabilities, with a difference of 20 per cent. The differences between people with or without disabilities also steadily increased as of 2018. Efforts within the performing arts are therefore being made to make progress in this area. For example, through the Inclusive Performing Arts Agenda 2020-2024 (Marinelli 2019), practical accessibility within the performing arts has been addressed in recent years.
In terms of national origin, we see that the reach of performing arts among many groups in 2022 is at a similar level as in 2018. However, this is not yet the case for Dutch people born in a European foreign country (66 per cent, over 15 percentage points lower than in 2018) or whose parents were born in a European foreign country (69 per cent, 7 percentage points lower than in 2018).
Museums & Visual arts
More than half of the Dutch population visited a museum (at home or abroad) at least once in 2022. Compared to the Covid year 2020, this is an increase of 10 percentage points: from 42 per cent to 52 per cent. However, the number of museum visits remained the same as 2020: an average of 3,4 visits per year. When comparing this with 2018, it reveals that the most recent figures have not yet returned to the same level: in 2018, the proportion of people visiting museums was still well above that of 57, at 2022 per cent. As in previous years, the average number of visits was also around 4 visits per year.
We see a similar trend in the Museum Association's 2022 figures. The number of domestic visits increased by 57 percent from 11,4 million in 2020 to 17,9 million visits in 2022. In 2018, the number of domestic visits was higher: 21,7 million (Blaker et al. 2023).
Looking specifically at museums for visual arts, we see that almost three in ten Dutch people (28 percent) visited museums for art, media art or design in 2022. Thereby, the share of visits to exhibitions for ancient art is similar to exhibitions for modern art or design: both 20 percent in 2022. Notably, visits to exhibitions for ancient art are not yet at pre-Covid crisis levels: in 2018, 28 percent visited exhibitions for ancient art.
Of all Dutch people, half (49 percent) visited spaces with visual arts. This not only concerns visits to museums or exhibitions, but almost two in five Dutch people also visit visual art in public places (36 percent).
Visual arts visits based on personal characteristics
Visitation of visual arts venues is particularly dependent on gender, age, education level, income and degree of urbanity. For instance, in all measurement years, a higher proportion of women (52 per cent in 2022) visited visual arts on an annual basis and the proportion of visitors is relatively low among less educated people (25 per cent), people with low household incomes (42 per cent) and people living outside urban areas (41 per cent). The biggest difference in attendance is visible between those with higher education (64 per cent) and those with lower education (25 per cent). Previous measurement years also show a similar difference, although the level for both groups is 2022 percentage points lower in 7 than in 2018 (see table 2.4 C).
Age is also a significant factor for visiting visual arts venues. Still, differences between age groups are relatively small when we compare this to performing arts: reach among young adults is highest at 55 per cent in 2022, compared to 45 per cent among middle-aged people. In age groups aged 35 and over, we see lower shares of attendance in 2022 than in 2018.
There is a significant difference in attendance of visual arts venues between people with disabilities or impairments (42 to 44 per cent) versus people without disabilities (51 per cent). Nevertheless, the difference between these groups is significantly smaller than within the domain of performing arts. However, we do see that in 2022 the attendance rate is lower than the 2018 level.
Movie industry
Watching a film or documentary in the cinema or art house is a popular leisure activity. In 2022, almost three in five Dutch people (57 percent) watched at least one film on the big screen. Indeed, a large proportion (44 percent) of cinema and art house attendants watch more than one film in the cinema or art house: on average, people watch a movie in the cinema or art house 4,8 times in a year.
Comparing these figures with previous years, we see that the share of Dutch people going to the cinema or the film house is not as large as it was before Covid: in 2018, over two-thirds of Dutch people (68 per cent) watched one or more movies or documentaries in a cinema or film house. That is more than 11 percentage points higher than in 2022.
This trend is also reflected in the NVBF's attendance figures: the number of visits to Dutch cinemas and film houses halved between 2018 (35.7 million visits) and 2020 (16.8 million). In 2022, the number of visits rose to 24.8 million: 69 per cent of the total in 2018. More on developments within this sector can be found on the Audiovisual page.
Movie visits based on personal characteristics
Visiting cinemas and picture houses appears to be most strongly dependent on gender, age, education level and income across the years. It is especially a popular leisure activity among young people: 82 per cent of 6-to-19-year-olds visited a film screening at a cinema or movie house in 2022, compared to 29 per cent of those aged 65 and over. Similarly, attendance among higher household incomes (63 per cent) is significantly higher than among lower-income households (51 per cent). There is also a clear influence of education whereby the higher the level of education, the higher the share of filmgoers. In 2022, the proportion of filmgoers in the highest education category was 2 times higher (62 per cent) than in the lowest education category (31 per cent).
Comparing the situation in 2022 with the situation before the Covid pandemic in 2018, we see that the proportion of cinema and picture house visits among all groups is lower in 2022 (on average 11 per cent lower). The share of visits among Dutch people with parents from a country outside Europe or the 'top-5 countries' dropped the most: from 88 per cent in 2018 to 67 per cent in 2022 (21 per cent point difference). Similarly, attendance in 2022 was relatively low among Dutch people from one of the 'top-5 migration areas' (38 per cent, a drop of 18 percentage points).
Literature
The library landscape in the Netherlands is evolving. The number of branches has declined over the past decade and the number of library members has also shown a slight downward trend. Nevertheless, libraries fulfil a growing societal role in many places and the number of activities organised by public libraries has never been this high. In addition, there is a new financial impetus from the government to support libraries (see the Literature domain page).
Over a third of Dutch people (34 per cent) aged six years and older occasionally visit a library in 2022, and a quarter (24 per cent) did so three times or more a year. This is a slight increase from 3 when 2020 per cent of Dutch people made one or more library visits. In the years before the Covid crisis, we witnessed a slight decline in the proportion of library visitors from 31 per cent in 43 to 2012 per cent in 40. It remains to be seen whether library attendance among the Dutch will return to similar levels in the coming years with the additional efforts of the government.
Beyond visiting libraries, there are also events such as book presentations, writer tours or readings. Among the Dutch, 6 per cent attended such literary or reading events in 2022.
Library visits based on personal characteristics
The proportion of library visitors is higher among women across all measurement years and increases with the level of education. Library attendance is mainly popular among young people, specifically for the 6- 11-year-old category (79 per cent). Library attendance is also remarkably higher among the 35-49-year category. Library attendance is evenly distributed among different income levels, degrees of urbanity and disabilities.
For library attendance, too, we observe that the share of visitors among the vast majority of different groups is still lower in 2022 than in 2018. Especially in highly urbane areas, the amount of visitors lags compared to 2018, by 13 percentage points. The proportion of visitors among Dutch people born in a ‘top-5’ country also fell 17 percentage points compared to 2018, and people with parents from a country outside Europe or the 'top-5 countries' by 12 per cent. It is also notable that across all disability categories, the share of visitors remains lower in 2022 than in 2018. In particular, for people with disabilities such as chronic conditions (20 per cent) or other disabilities (25 per cent), attendance in 2022 was 10 and 18 percentage points lower than in 2018, respectively. Even among higher educated people, library attendance remains roughly at the 2020 level and thus has not yet returned to its pre-Covid visitation rates.
Heritage
Heritage includes both movable (archives/museum collections) and immovable (buildings/monuments) heritage, as well as intangible heritage in the form of customs or traditions. In 2022, two in three Dutch people (67 percent) visited some form of heritage. Visiting historic towns, villages or buildings is the most popular form of heritage visit (60 percent in 2022). Again, between 2018 and 2020, the share of visitors declined from 60 percent to 43 percent. In 2022, the level is similar to 2018 again, moreover, the average number of visits is higher than before: 4,8 visits to historical sites per year, compared to 4,3 in 2018.
Visits to history and archaeology museums (28 percent) are also almost at 2020 levels (21 percent), after a dip in 2018 (30 per cent). In addition, one in five Dutch people (20 per cent) visited a site with archaeological finds in 2022.
Heritage visits also include visiting archives. This concerns a relatively small group: 4 percent of Dutch people visited an archive once or more in 2022.
** In 2022, visiting 'An archaeological excavation' has been changed to 'Location with archaeological finds'. This has an effect on the results for both the share of visits and the average visit frequency. As a result, the results for this category cannot be properly compared with previous measurement years.
** In 2022, visiting 'An archaeological excavation' has been changed to 'Location with archaeological finds'. This has an effect on the results for both the share of visits and the average visit frequency. As a result, the results for this category cannot be properly compared with previous measurement years.
Heritage visits based on personal characteristics
Visiting heritage is most strongly influenced by level of education and income. That is, the share of Dutch people visiting heritage is relatively higher among people with higher education levels or higher incomes. Interestingly, the share of heritage visitors does not differ greatly in terms of age. In particular, the four mid-age categories show a similar share; in 2022, for example, the share of heritage visitors is around 70 per cent per age category. The youngest age category (from 6 to 11 years old) and the oldest age category (65 plus) are outliers: where the youngest category has a higher share of heritage visits, the highest age category has a smaller share. It is also notable for the highest age category that it is the only age category that has not yet returned to its pre-Covid levels.
Further striking when comparing the attendance rates before and after the Covid pandemic is that the visiting rate in 2022 was lower than in 2018 for people with a motor, visual and/or hearing impairment (6 percentage points) and people with a chronic condition (7 percentage points). For people with other disabilities or no disabilities, the attendance in 2022 was similar to 2018. In 2022, the share of heritage visitors among people born in Europe also lags significantly compared to the share in 2018, with a difference of 11 percentage points. For other origin groups, the attendance share in 2022 was about the same as in 2018.
Festivals
The Netherlands has a wide range of festivals. Of all Dutch people, 36 per cent visited one or more festivals in 2022. Festivals featuring pop music (23 per cent) and film festivals (12 per cent) are particularly popular.
In 2020, many festival organisations were forced to cease (much of) their activities due to restraints imposed by Covid policy. The number of artist performances at pop festivals fell by 87 percent. Read more about the impact of the Covid crisis on the music sector on the Music domain page. We saw the decline in the number of festival activities reflected in the share of festival-goers among the Dutch population: from 40 percent in 2018 to 25 percent in 2020.
Online visits
During the Covid pandemic, online cultural visitation was frequently highlighted (van der Meulen 2021). The VTO also included questions on online cultural visits and participation in the domains of screenings and performances, museums and visual arts. All forms of online visitation show a slight increase from 2020 to 2022. This slight increase is also visible for different groups (see Table 2.9 B to 2.9 C). How this developed after 2022, especially given a sharp decline in online programming, for example at music venues, remains to be seen (Dee et al. 2022).
Online visits based on personal characteristics
Visiting online performances or shows is evenly distributed across the population. For example, there are no significant differences in participation in this form of cultural activity in terms of disability, income or degree of urbanity. Nor is there a difference between people with a low and intermediate education level: only people who graduated from HBO or WO have a higher share of online cultural attendance. The share of visiting online performances or shows is higher among men than women, both in 2020 and 2022. For all groups, the share of visitors increased slightly in 2022 compared to 2020.
Online viewing of museum collections and exhibitions or fine art differs mainly by age and education level. The proportion of people viewing these forms of art is highest among the age group of 65 years and older. Also, these online forms of cultural participation are popular among young people in the categories of 6-11 years old and 12-19 years old. Regarding education level, for both forms of online visitation, the higher the education level, the higher the proportion of visitors. For other personality characteristics, online viewing is fairly evenly distributed across the population. For almost all groups, the visiting proportion was slightly higher in 2022 compared to 2020.
Consumption
Books
Reading remains a popular leisure activity for many people. As of 2012, about 80 percent of the Dutch population aged 6 and above said they had read at some point in the past 12 months. About
Reading behaviour based on personal characteristics
Reading is a particularly popular form of leisure activity for women, young people, higher educated people and those belonging to the highest income category. That said, reading is a popular form of leisure activity among all age groups: in all age categories, this share exceeds 74% across all measurement years. It is particularly popular among young people. Across all measurement years, between 97 and 98% of children aged 6-11 read at least one book annually. For older age groups, this percentage is slightly lower. From 20 years and above, between 76% and 79% read a book annually.
Education level in particular is a determining factor in reading behaviour. Whereas in every measurement year starting in 2018, around 60% of people with a lower level of education read a book annually, for people with the highest level of education completed, it is around 90%. The differences between the proportion of readers in 2018 and 2020 are greatest among the lowest education category. Whereas 2018% of lower-educated people read a book annually in 64, this decreased to 2022% in 57. For other education categories, we also see a decrease in the percentage of readers, but the differences are less pronounced.
Reading is also relatively less popular among people born in a ‘top-5 country’: across all years measured, the share of people reading books in this group remains around 60%, while other groups are at 70% or higher. The share of readers among this group in 70 was also not yet at pre-Covid levels. Whereas in 5 it was at 2022%, in 2018 reading rate was at 68%.
Music
As of 2020, the Dutch were asked about the ways they listen to music. On an annual basis, 88 percent of the Dutch population aged 6 years and over said they sometimes listened to music at work, at home or on the road in 2020 and 2022. Radio is the most popular medium, with 81 percent of the population listening to music via (online) radio in 2022. 63 percent listened to music via streaming services and 42 percent did so via music from their own collection, e.g. CD or vinyl record. (Online) radio and streaming services were also the most used daily. In 2022, 53 percent of Dutch people listened to (online) radio daily and 37 percent used streaming services daily. For radio, this decreased by 3 per cent since 2020, while daily use of streaming services actually increased by 4 per cent compared to 2020.
Music listening based on personal characteristics
Listening to music is rather evenly distributed across the population: that is, across the different background characteristics included, it is a widely enjoyed cultural expression. Listening to music in leisure time seems to differ most strongly by level of education. Of those with HBO or WO degrees, in 2020 and 2022, 98% listened to music on an annual basis, compared with 89% in the lower-educated category. Also, the higher the age, the less one listens to music in leisure time. However, the shares of listeners are still high among all measurement years and are always above 90% for different age categories.
Although the percentage differences between people of different origins do not seem to be large, it is notable that there are many significant results. In particular, from the results valid in both measurement years, we can say with more certainty that an influence occurs. That is, people born in a 'top-5 country' or people born outside Europe/top-5 country listen to less music, at least via radio, streaming services or from their own collection, than people of Dutch origin.
Movies & Documentaries
In both 2020 and 2022, 89 percent of the Dutch population sometimes watched movies, series or documentaries. Most Dutch people aged 6 and above watched films series and documentaries on TV in 2022, namely 90 percent. Streaming services were also the most used by the population (76 percent) in 2022. One in three Dutch people watched films offered digitally through film houses or cinemas in the past year (34 percent).
Watching movies based on personal characteristics
Watching films is also a widely supported form of cultural consumption among different demographic groups in both 2020 and 2022. Hence, for most personal characteristics, there are no noteworthy differences. That is, whether or not one consumes films on an annual basis does not differ by gender, disability, degree of urbanity or origin. Among all age categories, the proportion of people who watch a film on an annual basis is above 96%. Only in the highest category of 65 plus is this somewhat lower, at around 90%. Watching films and documentaries in leisure time differs most by the level of education and income. The higher the level of education or income, the higher the proportion of people who watch films in their leisure time. For instance, in both measurement years, 90% of lower educated people watched a film annually, compared to 97% of higher educated people.
Games
Questions about playing games were included for the first time in 2022. The figures clearly show the popularity of this form of leisure activity. In fact, over 52 percent of the Dutch population say they have played games on a phone, tablet, computer or game console in the past 12 months (52 percent). Of these, 21 percent play daily and 15 percent once a week or more. The majority of Dutch people mainly game alone: 69 percent in 2022. They also like to play against others online (41 percent of Dutch people who game) and with or against others who are in the same room (36 percent). E-sports were practised by 4 per cent of Dutch people who game.
Gaming based on personal characteristics
Because questions on gaming were included for the first time in 2022, it is not yet possible to make comparisons by time. However, we can contrast whether people do or do not game in their leisure time based on personal characteristics. Gaming appears to be particularly popular among men: more than half of the men said they had played a game at some point in the past year. This is not to say that women do not game. Almost half of women reported having done so at some point in 2022. Gaming is also more popular among young people. While more than 80 per cent of young people under 19 years of age sometimes game, this is significantly less so as age increases, especially in the highest age groups. Despite being a more popular leisure activity for young people, there are also many gamers in higher age categories. For instance, 53% of 35-49-year-olds game on an annual basis.
Gaming appears to be a popular leisure activity especially among the mid-level category, both when it comes to income and education level. For instance, almost half of those who graduated within the middle category in 2022 sometimes played games and 57% of those belonging to the 3rd quintile did so. This difference is particularly strong in relation to people with lower levels of education or income.
Participation
Practising and participating in arts and culture oneself is an important form of leisure activity for many people: 64 percent of Dutch people aged 6 and above practice some form of art or culture, or heritage, occasionally. Art practice is done by 55 percent of Dutch people. The 2023 Amateur Art Monitor by the National Knowledge Centre of Cultural Education and Amateur Art (LKCA) shows similar figures: 55 percent of the Dutch population aged six and above do something artistic, creative or musical in their free time, according to this monitor (Neele 2023). What is striking from the VTO figures is that most forms of both art and cultural practice remain roughly the same over the years from the first measurement in 2012. Of the art forms that people practice themselves, the performing arts are the most popular. As of 2012, invariably around 40 per cent of Dutch people indicate that they practice some form of performing arts every year.
VTO 2012 – 2022
Art and culture practice based on personal characteristics
Arts and cultural participation rates differ most between people of different ages and different levels of education. Between 2018 and 2022, we can see that arts and culture participation is highest among children and young people under 19 years old, while it decreases in the higher age groups. In these years, we also see strong differences in terms of education level. For example, in 2022, 45% of people with lower levels of education practised culture, compared to 71% of people with higher levels of education.
Across the years, it can also be seen that people born in a 'top-5 country' seem to engage relatively less in arts and cultural leisure activities. In 2020, we saw a striking drop in arts participation for people with parents from a country outside Europe or a 'top-5 country': while in 2018 it was 73%, in 2020 it dropped to 57%, before rising again to 70% in 2022.
A striking difference between arts and culture practice can be observed. Whereas there is no difference between men and women when we look at cultural practice, there is for art practice. Across the years, women consistently engage in more art practice in their leisure time. For women, the share of art practitioners is around 60 per cent in all measurement years, for men it remains around 50 per cent.
Performing arts
Within the performing arts, singing is particularly popular: on a yearly basis, about 30 percent of Dutch people aged 6 and older report doing this at some point, 17 percent of whom even practise it weekly. Only in 2020 do the numbers of Dutch people who sing decrease to 25 percent, possibly because many people practise it in groups, and this was often not possible during the Covid closures. Besides singing, playing an instrument is popular. In 2022, one in five Dutch people played an instrument (21 percent), 8 percent of whom did so on a weekly basis. Other forms of performing arts, including stage acting, various forms of dance and cabaret or stand-up comedy, were practised to a much lesser extent.
Performing arts practice based on personal characteristics
Performing arts practice differs particularly by age and level of education. Here it can be seen that this form of leisure activity is mainly practised by under-19s. In the 6- to 11-year-old age group, this percentage is even between 76 and 78 per cent in every measurement year. Education level also makes a difference: the higher the education level, the higher the level of engagement. For the lower education categories, this percentage is around 20 per cent across all years, for the middle category around 30 per cent and the highest category around 40 per cent.
Other forms of art and heritage practice
After the performing arts, visual arts and heritage activities are the most common forms of leisure activities within arts and culture. About 30 percent of Dutch people have reported occasionally practising forms of visual arts or heritage since 2012. Both are notably practised on an annual basis, i.e. at least once in the past 12 months. Within the visual arts, drawing, painting or graphic imaging is particularly popular: in 2022, 26 percent of Dutch people did so on an annual basis. This is a slight increase from 2012, when 23 percent of the population did so on an annual basis.
Media art, for example film making or story writing, is practised the least, by about 20 percent of people in the Netherlands. In 2022, making films, video art and graphic work was practised by 21 percent of the Dutch, and writing stories, poems and weblogs by 13 per cent. Both types of Media Arts are mainly practised on an annual basis.
For heritage, researching historical events or people (21 percent) and researching local or regional history (15 percent) were particularly popular. In both 2020 and 2022, only 1 per cent of the Dutch population had participated or contributed to archaeological research.
Other forms of art and culture practice based on personal characteristics
Other forms of art and culture practice are mainly divided by gender, age and education levels. For all these forms of practice, it is true that they differ greatly by education level. The higher the education level, the greater the participation rate.
Gender also makes a difference in the practice of visual arts and heritage. Visual arts are particularly popular among women. In the various measurement years, between 35 and 40% of women practice visual arts in their leisure time, compared to 18-19% of men. Heritage practice, on the other hand, is more popular among men. While in 2022 approximately a quarter of women practice this form of culture in their free time, a third of men do so.
Both visual arts and media art are popular among young people under 18 years old. For example, in all measurement years, between 72% (2018) and 80% (2022) of children between 6 and 11 years old engaged in visual arts in their leisure time, compared to around 20% in all categories of 35 years and older. These percentages are somewhat lower for media art, but it appears that, again, this is particularly popular among the youngest age categories and decreases sharply as people get older. It is striking that practicing heritage seems to be roughly the same among all age categories: across all years, around 30% in each age category practice heritage in their free time.
Endorsement & Support
More than half of Dutch people (53 per cent) are satisfied with the cultural offer in their neighbourhood in 2022, only 5 per cent are dissatisfied with it.
VTO 2022
In addition to visitors and consumers of the arts and culture sector, there are also Dutch people who actively support the sector: for example, through voluntary work, donations or membership of a 'friends' association'. Giving money is particularly popular here: 17 per cent of Dutch people say they support arts and culture with money. However, we do see that this share is clearly declining in recent years: from 23 per cent in 2012 to 17 per cent in 2022. Involvement in cultural institutions through membership of a friend's association also decreased slightly: from 9 per cent in 2012 to 7 per cent in 2022.
Another form of support is unpaid work: in 2022, 10 per cent of the Dutch supported the arts and culture sector through this channel. Despite a slight decline in volunteering between 2014 and 2020, volunteering in 2022 was back at 2012 levels. In 2022, Dutch people who support the cultural field in this way most often did so within the music field (16 per cent of Dutch people engaging in unpaid work), followed by heritage and ancient art (11 per cent) and festivals (10 per cent).
Support based on personal characteristics
Due to the low numbers, fewer conclusions can be drawn regarding personal characteristics for volunteer work and being a member of a 'friends association'. However, it can be observed that both forms of support seem to be more popular among older age groups and higher education levels.
Concerning donation making, we can say more about how it is distributed across the population. For example, it can be observed that donating money is more popular in higher age categories, and higher education levels and is done more often by people who live in less urban areas. Income also contributes to whether people donate; donations are relatively common among people with a high household income.
What now?
On this theme page, we have further mapped various developments around the visiting, practising and consumption of arts and culture. In a report that will come out in the autumn 2024, we will compare the findings from this theme page with another important form of leisure activity, namely sports. We will do this in cooperation with the Mulier Institute, which is responsible for analysing sports results from the VTO. How do Dutch people prefer to spend their leisure time, and what role do sports and arts and culture play in it?
Want to know more about the theme of Culture and participation?
View more data on the theme of Culture and Participation in the Dashboardof the Culture Monitor.
A research report on the analysis of the VTO results by the Boekmanstichting can be found here. In addition, we make the most important figures on this page available in the Dashboard of the Boekman Foundation.
Previous publications with figures from the VTO can be found in the Annual report 2021.
Want to read more about culture and participation? Click on the following link for a list of available literature in the Knowledge baseof the Boekman Foundation.
Sources
Ateca-Amestoy, V. & Preito-Rodrigues, J. (2023). Whether Live or Online Participation is Unequal: Exploring Inequality in the Cultural Participation patterns in the United States, American Behavioral Scientist, p. 1-20. DOI: 10.1177/00027642231177655
Berkers, PPL, Schaap, JCF, Vandenberg, F., Everts, RA, Swartjes, B., Goossens, DM, Berghman, MJ, & Kimenai, FFP (2021) Music as medicine against social ills?, In: Sociology Magazine, 29 (1), 6-9.
Blaker, N., Veldkamp, J., Beijersbergen, A., Booij, HM, Niessen, K. (2023) Trends in the museum sector: museum figures 2022Amsterdam: Museum Association, Museana Foundation.
Engelshoven, I. van (2019) Principles of cultural policy 2021-2024. The Hague: Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Gielen, P., Elkhuizen, S., van den Hoogen, Q., Lijster, T. & Otte, H. (2020) The value of culture. Groningen: Arts in Society Research Center, University of Groningen.
Goedhart, M., Michael, J. & Verhagen, M. (2020) 'Theme Culture and participation'. In: Culture Monitor Annual Report 2021. Amsterdam: Boekman Foundation, 143-164.
Goudriaan, R. (et al.) (2021) Unequally affected, unequally supported: effects of the corona crisis in the cultural sector. Amsterdam/Utrecht/The Hague: Boekmanstichting/SiRM/Significant APE.
Marinelli, C. (2019). Agenda inclusive performing arts 2020-2024The Hague/Utrecht: Holland Dance Festival/National Knowledge Centre for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts.
Neele, A. (2023) Artistic, creative and musical in your spare time: monitor amateur art 2023. Utrecht: National Knowledge Center for Cultural Education and Amateur Art.
Meulen, K. van der (2021) online audience is a full-fledged audience'. In: Boekman. Amsterdam: Boekman Foundation, 24-29.
Uslu, G. (2023) Basic principles of cultural subsidies 2025-2028. The Hague: Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Justification text and image
Editorial note: An earlier version of this page was written by Maartje Goedhart and Annabel Draaijers.
Graphics and design: Oerol 2022 / Photography: Lisa Maatjens.