Nearly half of Dutch residents report neighbourhood nuisance

Nearly half of people aged 15 and over in the Netherlands reported social nuisance in their neighbourhood in 2025, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The share reached 46%, up from 42% in 2021, in its biennial Safety Monitor. The category includes nuisance from young people hanging around, noisy neighbours and drugs. [1]

Most of those affected reported a little nuisance rather than a lot: 31.9% of all respondents reported a little, while 14.3% reported a lot. The latter figure rose from 12.3% in 2021 and 12.9% in 2023.

Young people hanging around were the most commonly reported source. In 2025, 26% of people aged 15 and over said they experienced nuisance from this category, compared with 22% four years earlier. These percentages refer to the whole surveyed age group, not just those experiencing nuisance. [1]

The increase did not extend to every measure. One in five reported nuisance from other neighbourhood residents, but the share reporting a lot from this source was slightly lower: 4.9% in 2025, against 5.2% in 2021. The release does not establish whether that small difference is statistically significant.

There was also a marked urban–rural gap. In municipalities classified as very highly urbanised, 22.1% reported a lot of social nuisance, compared with 7.3% in non-urban municipalities. These are comparisons between types of municipality, not findings about every individual neighbourhood. [1]

Police records show a different youth trend

Police figures reproduced by CBS do not show the same longer-term increase in youth-related nuisance. There were 95,100 registrations in 2025, fewer than the 125,500 recorded in 2021, although the figure rose from 89,800 in 2024.

Registrations involving people displaying confused behaviour increased from 130,200 in 2021 to 169,800 in 2025. [1]