Amsterdam, June 12, 2025 - Sport and culture are important pillars of the leisure activities of Dutch people. The Mulier Institute and the Boekman Foundation together examined the extent to which Dutch people participate in sports and cultural activities. And how these domains relate to each other.
Participation in Sport and Culture is now available for download from the Boekman Foundation website, click here vear more information.
The report offers insights into the degree of overlap between participation in sports and culture. And in differences in participation by personal characteristics, such as age, education, income and urbanity.
Four profiles of sports and cultural behaviour
Based on statistical analyses, we distinguish four profiles of Dutch people based on similarities in their behaviour in terms of sports and culture: Modest recreationalists: the largest but least active group. Lower-income elderly people, who mainly opt for low-threshold individual activities. Policies can better engage this group by lowering barriers.
Active culture lovers: women aged 60 and over, with a college or university education and a high income. Active in museums, theatres and cultural hobbies. They are a minor target group for policies aimed at promoting cultural and sports participation.
Sports companion seekers: mainly young adults with a college or university education and a high family income. They play sports and undertake activities often in groups.
A-sports gamers: young adults with a medium level of education and an average to low household income. They game intensively and participate little in traditional sports and cultural activities. Esports and gamification can provide an entry point to get this group more involved in physical or offline sports and cultural initiatives.
Most Dutch people participate, but difference between groups
Most Dutch people are active in sports and/or culture. For sports, the emphasis is more on practice, while for arts and culture it is also on visiting. However, there are differences between groups of Dutch people, such as: Young people and hbo-/wo graduates are generally more active in both sports and culture. Older people participate more often in individual activities such as walking, cycling and reading.
For people with lower incomes or limited mobility, participation in sports and culture tends to be lower than for other groups.
For attending culture, a high degree of urbanity also appears to have a positive impact on the likelihood of participation.
Tools for policy
With these four profiles, we provided insight into how policies can better meet the needs of different groups. For instance, we saw that groups that are generally less well reached by sports and cultural offers are active in forms such as walking, cycling, reading or gaming. Depending on the objectives of policy, this finding can be used to redesign offerings for these groups.
Analysis based on Leisure Omnibus
The analysis is based on data from the Leisure Omnibus (VTO) 2022 - a biennial population survey by CBS, the Mulier Institute and the Boekman Foundation. Here, we build on an earlier publication by the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) from 2016.
