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Life expectancy at birth (years), 2021: 81.1
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births), 2023: 4
Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 2023: 4.0
Neonatal mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 2023: 2.6

Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Tables of health statistics by country and area, WHO region and globally. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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Population aged 15 years and over rating their own health as bad or very bad, 2021: 5.2%
Population aged 15 years and over rating their own health as good or very good, by income quintile, 2021
– Highest quintile: 85.2%
– Lowest quintile: 58.7%
– Total: 73.1%
Life expectancy at birth, 2021: 81.4 years
Infant mortality, deaths per 1,000 live births, 2021: 3.3
Maternal mortality rate, deaths per 100,000 live births, 2020: 4.3
Congestive heart failure hospital admission in adults, age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population, 2021: 148
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions in adults, age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population, 2021: 125

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

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Life Expectancy at Birth, 2022: 82.45
Infant Mortality Rate, 2022 (per 1,000 live births): 3.00
Under-Five Mortality Rate, 2022 (per 1,000 live births): 3.48

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2023). Data Portal, custom data acquired via website. United Nations: New York. Accessed 12 May 2023.

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Neonatal Mortality Rate, 2021: 3
Infant Mortality Rate, 2021: 4
Under-5 Mortality Rate, 2021: 4
Maternal Mortality Ratio, 2020: 4

Note: “Under-5 mortality rate – Probability of dying between birth and exactly 5 years of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
“Infant mortality rate – Probability of dying between birth and exactly 1 year of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
“Neonatal mortality rate – Probability of dying during the first 28 days of life, expressed per 1,000 live births.”
“Maternal mortality ratio – Number of deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births during the same time period (modelled estimates).”

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Maternal Deaths Per 100,000 Live Births, 2020: 4

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“Life expectancy at birth for the Dutch population was 81.8 years in 2017, almost one year higher than the EU average (80.9 years), but still almost two years less than Spain (Figure 1). While life expectancy overall is higher than the EU average, men in the Netherlands live almost two years longer than the EU average, while Dutch women live a month less. This comparatively weak performance for women reflects the legacy of high smoking rates in previous generations (Section 3), which has led to an increase in the number of women with lung cancer.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), The Netherlands: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

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“Mortality from preventable causes in the Netherlands compares favourably with the rate across the EU as a whole, at 129 deaths compared to 160 per 100 000 population (Figure 11), reflecting both a lower prevalence of risk factors and a lower incidence of many of these health issues compared to most other EU countries. Lung cancer accounts for 30 % of preventable deaths in the Netherlands, making it the largest contributor to preventable mortality. Since the early 2000s, the government has implemented several public health policies aiming to minimise the impact of behavioural risk factors and social determinants of health. Smoking was banned in workplaces in 2004, and in cafés and restaurants in 2008, while alcohol control measures implemented in 2013 focused on reducing alcohol use among teenagers. The National Prevention Agreement concluded in 2018 prompts municipalities to implement regional and local agreements to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities in their populations. So far, 14 initiatives with an average of 41 participating organisations have been developed, working towards the 2040 targets to have a smoke-free generation, reduce the share of the overweight and obese population from 50 % to 38 % and decrease problematic alcohol abuse.

“The Netherlands reports one of the lowest mortality rates from treatable causes – that is, deaths that could have been avoided through effective health care interventions (Figure 11). These rates remain low compared to the rest of the EU in spite of the above-average mortality from colorectal and breast cancer in the Netherlands, which accounted for more than 40 % of treatable deaths in 2018. Mortality rates from other treatable causes – such as ischaemic heart disease, stroke and pneumonia – were among the lowest in the EU.”

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“One aspect of the ageing Dutch population is the growing life expectancy. Between 1980 and 2013 it has increased from 75.7 to 81 years. The consistently higher life expectancy of women continues to exist but the gap with men has decreased over the years (World Bank, 2015). Despite this growth in life expectancy, the Netherlands has moved from a top ranking on this indicator to a more intermediate position among OECD countries. Mortality rates provided in Table 1.3 show these are declining for all age groups. Not only has the general life expectancy of the Dutch population increased, but the health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) has as well; since 2000 by two years, reaching 71 in 2013 (see Table 1.4).”

Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated August 8, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.