Internet usage
statistics
2026

• 98.4% of Dutch people aged 16-74 go online every day, up from 97.7% in 2023. The EU average is 89.5%; only Ireland (99.3%) scores higher (Eurostat, 2025)
• Among people aged 12 and over, 95.6% were online every day in 2025, against 76.2% in 2012 (CBS, 2025)
• 94.8% of Dutch people aged 12+ send messages online, 94.1% use email and 84.0% make calls over the internet. In 2012, only 23.4% called via the internet (CBS, 2025)
• Online adults worldwide spend 18 hours and 36 minutes per week on social and video feeds (GWI via DataReportal, 2026)
• 79.9% of Dutch people read news online, against 66.4% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025)
• 80.8% look up health information online, against 60.3% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025)
• 60.0% used online courses or learning material, almost twice the EU average of 32.6% (Eurostat, 2025)
• 46.7% sold goods or services online, the highest share in Europe and twice the EU average (23.9%) (Eurostat, 2025)

81.2% of Dutch people aged 16-74 take part in social networks, against 67.3% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025). For Dutch companies, how these figures inform the choice and mix of channels: more on online marketing in one team (in Dutch).

• The Netherlands had 15.3 million social media user identities at the end of 2025, 83.3% of the population and 84.1% of internet users, up 500,000 (+3.4%). Identities are not always unique people (DataReportal, 2026)
• The Netherlands ranks fifth in the EU for social network use (81.2%), behind Denmark (89.7%), Cyprus (86.5%), Malta (82.4%), and Finland (81.3%) (Eurostat, 2025)
• 97.7% use instant messaging such as WhatsApp, against 82.3% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025)
• TikTok ad reach grew 11.9% to 6.30 million adults, Facebook fell 11.8% to 7.50 million (DataReportal, 2026)
• Social network use drops with age: 93.1% of 12-25 year olds, 74.3% of 55-65 year olds, 59.0% of 65-75 year olds, and 31.1% of people aged 75+ (CBS, 2025)
• Facebook delivered 69.48% of social media referral traffic in the Netherlands in October 2026, followed by X/Twitter (8.84%) and Instagram (8.52%) (Statcounter, 2026)
• Worldwide there are 5.66 billion social media user identities, 68.7% of the global population (DataReportal, 2026)
• 49% of Dutch people trust most news most of the time; 15% pay for online news (Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 2026)

The Netherlands is one of the most mature e-commerce markets in Europe: 94.2% of Dutch people aged 16-74 bought something online in the past year, against 73.6% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025). For Dutch companies, how these figures translate into organic visibility: read more about our SEO agency (in Dutch).

• Dutch consumers spent €35.7 billion online in 2025, 1% less than in 2024, across 347 million purchases (Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor via Betaalvereniging, 2026)
• In the first half of 2026, online spending was €17.1 billion across more than 170 million purchases (+3%), at an average of €100 per purchase (-3%) (Thuiswinkel.org, 2026)
• The smartphone is now the main shopping device: 41% of online purchases in 2025 (+5 percentage points), rising to 45% in the first half of 2026, against 42% via laptop or desktop. Smartphone purchases average €80, desktop purchases €126 (Betaalvereniging, 2026, Thuiswinkel.org, 2026)
• iDEAL is used for 71% of online purchases (2025), followed by credit cards (8%) and Klarna (4%) (Betaalvereniging, 2026). In the first half of 2026, iDEAL|Wero reached 73% (Thuiswinkel.org, 2026)
• 14% of online purchases are made at foreign webshops, up from 10% in 2022 (Thuiswinkel.org, 2026)
• 80.4% of Dutch people aged 12+ bought something online in a three-month period, against 46.4% in 2012. Clothing and shoes (59.5%), meals (43.9%), and cosmetics (31.8%) are the top product categories (CBS, 2025)
• The Netherlands ranks second in the EU for online shopping (86.4%), after Ireland (87.5%). The EU average is 62.4% (Eurostat, 2025)

Young People (Ages 12-24)

• 99.1% of 12-25 year olds are online every day (CBS, 2025)
• 93.1% of 12-25 year olds use social networks, the highest of all age groups (CBS, 2025)
• 90.4% of 18-25 year olds have used an AI chatbot (CBS, 2025)
• 88.5% of Dutch 16-24 year olds have at least basic digital skills, against 74.6% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025)

Adults (Ages 25-64)

• 25-44 year olds shop online the most: 92.4% of 25-34 year olds and 92.9% of 35-44 year olds bought something online in the last three months (Eurostat, 2025)
• 74.6% of 25-45 year olds and 57.4% of 45-65 year olds have used an AI chatbot (CBS, 2025)
• 25-45 year olds are most often victims of online crime: 18.6% in 2025 (CBS, 2025)

Seniors (Ages 65+)

• 72.6% of people aged 75+ go online every day, against 15.7% in 2012. Among 65-75 year olds it is 94.3%, up from 51.8% (CBS, 2025)
• 98.6% of Dutch 65-74 year olds use the internet, against 79.0% in the EU; 68.5% have at least basic digital skills, against 33.0% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025, Eurostat, 2025)
• Among people aged 75+, 70.2% send messages online, 52.3% make internet calls, and 31.1% use social networks; 43% bought something online (CBS, 2025)
• 20.6% of people aged 65+ have used an AI chatbot (CBS, 2025)

• Basic 5G coverage in the Netherlands is 100%, against 96.8% in the EU (European Commission, 2026)
• Gigabit-capable networks (VHCN) cover 98.8% of Dutch homes, against 85.5% in the EU. The 2030 target is 100% (European Commission, 2026)
• Fibre to the premises rose from 85.3% to 91.5% coverage in one year; the EU average is 74.1% (European Commission, 2026)
• The median mobile download speed is 163.09 Mbps, up 22.2% in a year (Ookla via DataReportal, 2026)
• 99.8% of the 26.9 million Dutch mobile connections are broadband (3G, 4G, or 5G) (DataReportal, 2026)
• 54% of mobile subscriptions in Western Europe were 5G at the end of 2025; Ericsson expects 95% by 2031 (Ericsson Mobility Report, 2026)
• Worldwide there were close to 3.3 billion 5G subscriptions in Q2 2026, forecast to reach 6.4 billion by the end of 2031 (Ericsson Mobility Report, 2026)

AI Integration in Daily Internet Use

• 57% of Dutch adults have used an AI chatbot, ranging from 90.4% of 18-25 year olds to 20.6% of people aged 65+ (CBS, 2025)
• 39% of Dutch adults used generative AI in a three-month period: 25% in their free time, 24% for work, and 10% for school or study (CBS, 2025)
• ChatGPT accounts for 52.64% of AI chatbot traffic in the Netherlands, followed by Gemini (30.79%), Perplexity (8.97%), Copilot (4.79%), and Claude (2.81%) (October 2026, Statcounter, 2026)
• Worldwide, more than 1 billion people use AI language models every month, according to a Kepios estimate (DataReportal, 2026)

Evolving Search & Information Behavior

• Google holds 89.6% of the Dutch search market, followed by Bing (4.64%), DuckDuckGo (1.51%), and Ecosia (0.54%) (October 2026, Statcounter, 2026)
• 90.6% of Dutch people look up information about goods and services online, against 71.8% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025)
• 65.06% of Dutch web traffic comes from mobile devices, 33.38% from desktops (October 2026, Statcounter, 2026)

Future Predictions 2027-2030

• The EU target for 2030 is that 80% of people have at least basic digital skills; the Netherlands is at 83.6% and has set a national target of 100% (European Commission, 2026)
• Gigabit networks and 5G should cover all homes by 2030 under the Digital Decade targets; the Netherlands is at 98.8% and 100% (European Commission, 2026)
• Ericsson expects 95% of mobile subscriptions in Western Europe to be 5G by 2031, and 6.4 billion 5G subscriptions worldwide (Ericsson Mobility Report, 2026)