62 percent of the population sometimes wear glasses

The older people are, the more likely they are to need an optical aid. From age 55 upwards, more than 90 percent occasionally wore glasses in 2022. For children aged 4 to 11 years, this was 14 percent. Older people mainly wore glasses, while contact lenses were mainly worn by people aged 16 to 64 years.

More women than men wear contact lenses

In 2022, more women than men said they sometimes used an optical aid. For example, 66 percent of women wore glasses some of the time, compared with 57 percent of men. Fifteen percent of women reported wearing contact lenses, against 10 percent of men.

Hearing devices more common among men

More men than women, on the other hand, occasionally used aids to hear better. Three percent of men said they sometimes used an amplifier for their phones or television, for example, compared with 2 percent of women. There were no differences in the use of hearing aids between men and women (both around 5 percent).

28 percent of over-75s sometimes use hearing aid

In the age group 75 years or older, 30 percent of people reported sometimes using an aid to help them hear better. Twenty-eight percent of over-75s used a hearing aid on and off, while 9 percent said they used a hearing amplifier, to use their phones or watch TV for example.

More people use optical aids than in 2014

In 2022, 65 percent of the population aged 4 years and over sometimes used an aid to help them see better. This was still 62 percent in 2014. Last year, 62 percent indicated wearing glasses, up from 60 percent in 2014. The increase is linked to population ageing between 2014 and 2022.

This news release is based on the publication The Netherlands in numbers 2023, which answers 34 questions about the country by means of images and text.