Distribution of well-being: health

Health relates to being healthy and feeling healthy, and relates to physical, mental and social welfare. Good health has intrinsic value for people: it enables them to retain control over their lives and increases their chances of participating actively and equally in society.

The differences between population groups are measured in terms of self-perceived health. How people experience their health is strongly correlated with their well-being: poor health is often linked to lower well-being (Statistics Netherlands, 2016) and can cause problems with work, social life and housing, for example. As such, health impacts on people’s well-being. The same is true of large disparities in health, which are often associated with problems in several other aspects of well-being. More information on the health of the Dutch population can be found on StatLine (CBS, 2025a).

• In 2025, 77 percent of the population of the Netherlands reported (very) good health.
• Adults aged below 35 and those who hold a degree from higher education were more likely than average to report (very) good health.
• The share of people who report (very) good health has fallen slightly since 2019.

Perceived health

People’s perception of their own health is a good indicator of the general state of health – the specific indicator used being the percentage of people who rate their own health as ‘(very) good’. In 2025, 77 percent of the Dutch population judged their own health to be (very) good. This was almost 2 percentage points lower than in 2019. A number of key observations about these figures are set out below.

More men than women, in relative terms, say their health is (very) good. There are also more women than men with chronic illnesses, physical disabilities and pain-related limitations (Statistics Netherlands, 2025b ).

The percentage of people who perceive their own health as (very) good decreases with age. Up to and including the 25 to 34 age group, people are more likely than average to judge their health positively, whereas those aged 45 and above are less likely to do so. Older people are also more likely to have health problems such as chronic illnesses, physical disabilities and pain-related limitations (CBS, 2025b). Among those aged 75 and over, the proportion with (very) good perceived health is the lowest, at around 60 percent. Compared to 2019, however, this group saw an increase of almost 5 percentage points, reflecting a relatively favourable trend.

While those with a higher education degree are more likely than average to report being in (very) good health, this group saw a steeper than average decline. Like over-75s, people whose highest level of educational attainment is primary education or prevocational secondary education (VMBO) are well below the average when it comes to perceived health.

People of Dutch origin are slightly more positive than average about their own health, as are second-generation migrants with origins outside Europe. The latter group includes a relatively large number of young people who, generally speaking, are more likely to report (very) good health. Taking their lower average age into account through standardisation, this group’s perceived health is not above average. Migrants are less positive about their health than the average person in the Netherlands.