Workers spend nearly 9 hours a day sitting

This picture has hardly changed over the past five years: in 2019, workers spent an average of 8.6 hours a day sitting. This is according to new research based on the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey (NEA), conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). In this survey, 60 thousand workers were asked how much time they spend seated during an average working day.

Workers spend a large part of their working day sitting. A sedentary lifestyle (one that is characterised by extended periods of physical inactivity) is associated with health risks and can entail social costs. It is therefore important to know how much time workers spend sitting, both at work and during their leisure time.

Daily sitting time is highest among ICT workers

People (aged 15 to 74) working in ICT, such as database and network specialists, spend the most time sitting at work: an average of 7.1 hours per day in 2024. Workers in commercial and administrative roles, such as accountants, also spend many hours a day sitting. By contrast, workers in service-related occupations, such as waiters, bar staff and cleaners, spend the least time sitting: an average of 1.1 hours per working day.

Sedentary behaviour is more than twice as high among people who work at home

People who frequently work from home spend more time sitting during their working day than those who always work on location: 6.3 hours compared to 3.0 hours, on average. Generally speaking, working from home means more time spent sitting for desk-based workers. Nevertheless, people who always work from home spend less time sitting than people who work from home for a large part of the time. The use of computers is also a factor: people who use a computer for six hours or more per day spend an average 6.8 hours per working day sitting. For those who work less than six hours a day on a computer, the average is 2.7 hours.

Homeworkers in service occupations spend more than three times as long sitting

Differences in the amount of time spent sitting by homeworkers and on-location workers were most pronounced among people working in services and trade: homeworkers spent more than three times as much time sitting than those who always work on location. For example, homeworkers in service professions spent an average of 3.3 hours a day sitting, compared to one hour for people working in an office setting. In commercial professions, homeworkers spent an average of 6.6 hours a day sitting, while for on-location workers this was 2.2 hours. The difference was less pronounced among those working in ICT, the business economy and administration: the number of hours spent sitting by homeworkers and on-location workers were almost the same.