Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands
Netherlands: Bathing sites with excellent water quality was 70.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands, 1992–2025
Source: European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands is 70.4%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.6% on the previous year and down 4.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands peaked at 74.0% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 11.5%, in 1995.
That places Netherlands 18th out of 27 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 19.9% | — |
| 1993 | 25.3% | +26.7% |
| 1994 | 18.8% | -25.8% |
| 1995 | 11.5% | -38.7% |
| 1996 | 40.4% | +251.7% |
| 1997 | 46.4% | +14.7% |
| 1998 | 53.5% | +15.4% |
| 1999 | 60.4% | +12.9% |
| 2000 | 65.6% | +8.6% |
| 2001 | 57.5% | -12.3% |
| 2002 | 55.8% | -3.0% |
| 2003 | 64.1% | +15.0% |
| 2004 | 62.8% | -2.1% |
| 2005 | 61.4% | -2.3% |
| 2006 | 58.5% | -4.8% |
| 2007 | 57.8% | -1.1% |
| 2008 | 70.9% | +22.7% |
| 2009 | 53.3% | -24.7% |
| 2010 | 45.9% | -13.9% |
| 2011 | 44.4% | -3.3% |
| 2012 | 65.5% | +47.4% |
| 2013 | 68.0% | +3.8% |
| 2014 | 70.6% | +3.8% |
| 2015 | 74.0% | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 73.7% | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 72.5% | -1.7% |
| 2018 | 72.6% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 73.8% | +1.7% |
| 2020 | 73.5% | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 72.7% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 73.5% | +1.1% |
| 2023 | 71.1% | -3.2% |
| 2024 | 71.5% | +0.5% |
| 2025 | 70.4% | -1.6% |
Netherlands compared with similar countries
- Netherlands's 70.4% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 80.0%, 88% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
- Netherlands's 70.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 80.4%, 88% of the median. (26 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | +251.7% | 11.5% | 40.4% |
| 2012 | +47.4% | 44.4% | 65.5% |
| 1995 | -38.7% | 18.8% | 11.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 34.5% | 11.5% | 60.4% | 8 |
| 2000s | 60.8% | 53.3% | 70.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 66.1% | 44.4% | 74.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 72.1% | 70.4% | 73.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More environment data for Netherlands
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -3 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.1867 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual -0.2541 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit of 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) (Mt CO2e) -6.03 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands?
- Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Netherlands was 70.4% in 2025, according to European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 74.0% in 2015.
- What is the lowest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.5% in 1995.
- How does Netherlands rank for bathing sites with excellent water quality?
- Netherlands ranks 18th out of 27 countries with data for 2025.
- Is bathing sites with excellent water quality rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Bathing sites with excellent water quality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of bathing water sites in lakes or rivers that are of excellent quality. This means contamination levels of certain bacteria are below a strict threshold.