Trade union membership in the Netherlands continues to decline, falling by 6% since 2019, national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday.

Over the past 10 years, union membership has declined from 1.9 million to 1.5 million, the lowest figure since 1966. The CBS publishes the figures every two years.

Union members are likely to be older, and 22% have reached pension age but continue paying their fees, the CBS said.

The highest rate of union membership is in the education sector, where 31% are a member. Local government, and the transport and logistics sectors also have almost 30% membership.

CBS research also shows that 54% of non-union members had never really thought seriously about joining and 12% felt unions had no impact on their working conditions.

The Netherlands has two main trade union federations, the FNV and CNV.