City center parking rates to rise sharply in 2023; Amsterdam priciest, Hague up 141%

Parking in a city center will become considerably more expensive in 2023, according to research by websites centrumparkeren.nl and parkingindestad.nl. The two parking websites studied the parking rates in various cities.

The average increase since 2018 in 22 major cities was more than 29 percent. The Hague experienced the largest increase with 141 percent, while parking rates were flat in Hilversum and Hengelo.

According to the study, Amsterdam is still the most expensive city for paid parking. On average, an hour of parking there costs 7.50 euros. Some city parking garages increased the per-hour rate to 10 euros. Utrecht was in second place at 6.64 euros per hour, and The Hague was in third at 6.50 euros per hour. Hengelo was found to be the cheapest of the cities studied with an average price of 1.90 euros per hour.

In more and more cities, the municipal authorities have tried different policies to keep cars out of the city center, according to parkingindestad.nl. For example, day tickets have been introduced in Leiden, Amstelveen, Alkmaar, Delft, Dordrecht, Deventer and Tilburg. For people without a parking permit, buying a day ticket is mandatory to park in the city center.

On average, such a day ticket costs 23.20 euros. These municipalities believe that parking in the city center should be reserved for residents and their guests as much as possible.