Well-being ‘here and now’: safety
Crime and perceived safety – or the lack of it – have a direct impact on citizens’ quality of life. Both the actual risk of being a victim and the feeling of safety or a lack of safety have an effect.
- A relatively small and fairly constant group of people feel unsafe in their neighbourhood.
- The proportion of the population who trust the police is high compared with other EU countries and is growing.
- The quality of Dutch public institutions is high compared with other EU countries.
Fewer police officers per resident, trust in police is rising
Safety
in EU
in 2023
| Theme | Indicator | Value | Trend | Position in EU | Position in EU ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety | Often feeling unsafe in the neighbourhood | 2.2% of the population over 15 often feels unsafe in 2023 | |||
| Safety | Victims of crime | 19.9% of the population over 15 are crime victims in 2023 | 13th out of 19 in 2023 | Middle ranking |
Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being
In 2023, 2.2 percent of the population often felt unsafe in their own neighbourhood. This is a relatively small group, which has remained fairly constant over the years. In 2023, one in five residents said they had been victims of conventional crime, including violence, burglary, theft and vandalism.
The SDG 16.1 Security and peace dashboard highlights safety in the Netherlands in more detail. It shows that death due to murder or manslaughter is lower than in most of the other EU27 countries and that 20 percent of young women experience sexual violence, compared with 4 percent of young men. Crime also occurs in the digital world. In 2023, 15.6 percent of people aged 15 and over indicated that they had been victims of online crime. The operational strength of the police, calculated per 100,000 of the population, is on a downward trend. This development is regarded as unfavourable for well-being. On the other hand, the proportion of people who trust the police is growing. The score for the ‘rule of law’ indicator is trending downwards. Rule of law is one of the six World Governance Indicators which the World Bank uses to measure good governance. Although the trend is downward, the legal system in the Netherlands functions relatively well compared with other EU countries. Within Europe, only Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Austria have higher scores.
More information on the institutions is available in the SDG 16.2 Institutions dashboard, which shows that trust in the courts is relatively high and growing. Trust in civil servants, the Dutch House of Representatives, local councils and the European Union increased in the most recent year (from 2023 to 2024). In 2024, 31.1 percent of the population had faith in the House of Representatives. In most other EU countries, this proportion is lower. The quality of Dutch public institutions is high compared with other EU countries. However, the effectiveness of government administration and the extent to which the public sector is regarded as being free from corruption are falling. The degree of engagement and participation among citizens is rising.