Dutch sports injuries hit 5.6 million in 2024; Emergency visits surge among children

Dutch citizens suffered an estimated 5.6 million sports-related injuries last year, about 300,000 more than in 2023, according to VeiligheidNL, a national center for injury prevention. Despite the increase, the risk of injury per 1,000 hours of sports declined as more people took up physical activity.

Data comes from the Leefstijlmonitor compiled by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) in collaboration with the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and VeiligheidNL. In 2024, around 4.6 million people experienced at least one injury, with more than half requiring medical treatment, most commonly from a physiotherapist.

Emergency departments treated 92,900 sports injuries last year. More than half of those cases involved serious injuries. While adults between 18 and 34 experienced most injuries overall, the majority of emergency visits involved children under 18.

Victor Zuidema, program manager for sports injury prevention at VeiligheidNL, explained: “As a parent, you often take a child to the emergency room more quickly than you would for yourself. On top of that, young people are still developing motor skills and take more risks, which increases the chance of injury.”

Mountain biking carries the highest risk of ending up in the emergency department. Over the past decade, emergency visits from mountain biking injuries have risen 55 percent, even as the total number of severe sports injuries treated at emergency departments fell 17 percent during the same period.

Researchers say the total number of injuries has returned to pre-pandemic levels. “Because more people are now engaging in sports, especially in activities with relatively low injury risk, the injury risk per 1,000 hours of sport has decreased,” the report states.