More young people joining unions after years of decline
There are now 36 thousand more union members aged 25 to 44 years compared to 2023, and 11 thousand more union members under the age of 25. At the same time, however, there has been a fall in the number of union members aged 45 years and older. The number of members aged between 45 years and the state pension age fell by the most, but half of all union members still fall into this age group.
| Jaar | younger than 25 yrs (x 1,000) | 25-44 yrs (x 1,000) | 45 yrs - statutory retirement age (x 1,000) | statutory retirement age and older (x 1,000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025* | 46.3 | 376.5 | 705.9 | 297.2 |
| 2023 | 35.3 | 340.7 | 748.9 | 316.0 |
| 2021 | 35.5 | 347.7 | 797.1 | 323.9 |
| 2019 | 46.6 | 407.9 | 865.9 | 281.1 |
| 2017 | 65.8 | 436.1 | 883.2 | 317.6 |
| * provisional figures | ||||
More female union members
The number of female union members has risen for the first time since 2017, reaching over 558 thousand in 2025, 9 thousand more than there were in 2023. The number of male union members has been declining for years: 868 thousand men now belong to a union, 24 thousand fewer than two years ago.
The total number of union members continues to decline, even though the rate of decrease is slower than in previous years. There were over 1.4 million union members at the end of March, 15 thousand fewer than in 2023. This brings the number of union members to its lowest level since 1962.
| Jaar | Male (x 1,000) | Female (x 1,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1417.6 | 517.7 |
| 2000 | ||
| 2001 | 1379.1 | 539.6 |
| 2002 | ||
| 2003 | 1361.4 | 559.2 |
| 2004 | ||
| 2005 | 1314.1 | 584.6 |
| 2006 | 1281.1 | 584.8 |
| 2007 | 1270.6 | 607.6 |
| 2008 | 1276.1 | 621.9 |
| 2009 | 1263.5 | 623.4 |
| 2010 | 1243.4 | 626.9 |
| 2011 | 1229 | 646.6 |
| 2012 | 1201.5 | 647.3 |
| 2013 | 1161 | 630.9 |
| 2014 | 1127 | 635 |
| 2015 | 1094.3 | 640.1 |
| 2016 | 1071.3 | 646.1 |
| 2017 | 1048.6 | 654.1 |
| 2018 | ||
| 2019 | 983.5 | 617.9 |
| 2020 | ||
| 2021 | 931.4 | 572.8 |
| 2022 | ||
| 2023 | 891.3 | 549.6 |
| 2024 | ||
| 2025* | 867.6 | 558.3 |
| * provisional figures | ||
Older workers more likely to be critical
According to the latest figures from the 2024 National Survey of Working Conditions (carried out by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research/TNO), older workers take a more critical attitude to unions than younger workers. Among non-union members, those aged 45 years and older are more likely to say that unions have little influence, that membership costs too much and that unions do not represent workers’ interests properly.
Among younger workers (under 45 years) who are not members of unions, 61 percent have never considered joining a union. Among older non-members, by contrast, 45 percent have never considered joining.
| Leeftijd | never seriously considered joining a union (% of workers (aged 15-74 yrs)) | membership is too expensive (% of workers (aged 15-74 yrs)) | unions have no influence (any longer) on terms of employment (% of workers (aged 15-74 yrs)) | unions do not stand up for my interests (% of workers (aged 15-74 yrs)) | other (% of workers (aged 15-74 yrs)) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| younger than 45 yrs | 61.2 | 6.1 | 8.7 | 3.5 | 20.6 |
| 45 yrs and older | 46.1 | 9.1 | 15.8 | 8.1 | 20.9 |
| Source: CBS, TNO | |||||
| *most recent figures | |||||
Related items
- News release - Decline in trade union membership continues