Quarter of main meals eaten in Netherlands last year were vegetarian

Roughly one-fourth of all main meals eaten by people living in the Netherlands are either vegetarian or vegan, according to a new study from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Of the seven main meals people eat per week, the study found that 63 percent contained meat, and 12 percent included fish.

“Most Dutch people opted for a vegetarian main meal one or two days per week. 31 percent never ate a vegetarian main meal, while 3 percent always ate vegetarian,” the CBS said.

The researchers determined that the vast majority eat meat on a weekly basis but not necessarily on a daily basis. About 43 percent eat one or two vegetarian meals per week, and another 22 percent eat vegetarian main meals at least three times weekly.

“Of the seven main meals in a week, Dutch people indicate that, on average, 1.8 of them are vegetarian. On average, meat is eaten at 4.4 main meals and fish at 0.8.” It is the first time CBS has tailored a study specifically about the main meals people eat on a daily basis in the Netherlands.

The study also showed that 2.3 percent eat a completely vegetarian diet, 2.1 percent sometimes eat fish, but never meat, and 0.5 percent eat a fully plant-based diet.

Highly educated people are more likely to eat vegetarian than those with lower education levels, CBS found. 45 percent of adults with a university education eat vegetarian always or at least three times a week. That drops to 32 percent among those with a higher vocational education qualification and to 19 percent among those with pre-vocational or senior general secondary education. Younger people and women are also more likely to avoid meat than older people and men.

Last year, concern for the climate was the most frequently cited reason for eating less meat. In 2020, that was still health. The cost of meat also played a bigger role in the choice to eat less or no meat in 2023 than in 2020.