Dutch sports shoulder injuries hit record 530,000 in 2025

About 530,000 shoulder injuries were recorded among people who took part in sport in the Netherlands in 2025, a 23 per cent rise on the previous year and the highest annual total on record, according to a report by the Dutch injury-prevention centre VeiligheidNL, as reported by news agency ANP.

The injuries were part of 5.7 million sports injuries sustained by 4.7 million people in the Netherlands last year. More than half of all sports injuries required medical treatment. Knee, ankle and shoulder injuries were the most common, the report said.

The increase in shoulder injuries may reflect the fact that people in the Netherlands are spending more hours doing sport, VeiligheidNL said. Femke Claessen, a sports doctor at Erasmus MC and the Dutch tennis and padel association, pointed to the popularity of accessible racket sports such as tennis and padel, while warning that players’ shoulders may not be ready for the strain.