Netherlands the European champion for sitting still: TNO

The Netherlands is the “European sitting champion,” according to a study by TNO. A quarter (26 percent) of the Dutch population aged 15 years and older sit more than 8.5 hours per day on average, compared to 11 percent in the rest of the EU.

In 2022, workers in the Netherlands spent an average of 8.9 hours per day on their bottoms. Over half of the sitting time happens at work (4.5 hours on average). The average Dutch worker spends 3.4 hours sitting in their spare time and 1 hour during the commute.

Almost half of Dutch workers sit at work for more than 6 hours on the average working day. People working in the financial sector spend the most of their work time sitting (7 hours), closely followed by IT workers (6.8 hours). “That is approximately 2.5 hours more than the average in the Netherlands.” The sectors where workers spend the least amount of time sitting down are catering (1.3 hours per day on average), agriculture (3.2 hours), and trade (3.4 hours).

Profession-specific lawyers, financial specialists, and software developers sit the most at work - 7.3 hours on an average workday.

A previous study by the Dutch Health Council showed that sitting for long periods of time is bad for your health. People who sit for more than 8 hours a day and exercise little have a 74 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a 27 greater risk of premature death than people who sit less than 4 hours a day and exercise a lot.

The Health Council advises people with sit-down professions to interrupt their sitting times with regular movement. Getting up for a brief walk, preferably every 30 minutes, seems to already have a positive effect on the risk of cardiovascular disease.