Residents of the Netherlands have been crowned the “sitting down champions of Europe”, with 26 percent of Dutch people spending 8,5 hours a day sitting down - more than twice the amount of time sitting down than their fellow European nations. 

26 percent of people in the Netherlands fall into the “most sedentary” group

According to the data, which was released by research institute TNO, people in the Netherlands spend significantly more time sitting down and being sedentary than in other European countries. The findings show that Dutch people’s risk of mortality has increased by 27 percent because of these sitting-down habits. 

The study found that 3,7 million people, roughly half of the country’s working population, sit down for six hours or more at work. Lawyers, economists and software developers sit at the top of the list with an average of 7,3 hours per day.

COVID-19 pandemic has made Dutch people spend more time sitting down

The researchers behind the pandemic say that the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated an existing issue. In 2018, the Dutch were already named as the European nation that spends the most time sedentary, a phenomenon that boomed during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. 

TNO researcher Lidewij Renaud told the AD:  “Many people have continued to work from home since then. Not everyone is the same, of course, but people tend to move less at home and they are moving even less because there is no need to travel to and from work.” “Sitting down is bad for you and this will always be a relevant issue,” she added.