More restaurants and fewer bars reflect changing nightlife scene

Restaurants are taking over from cafés and bars as the preferred destination for a night out, according to official figures spanning the last 17 years.

The number of restaurants in the Netherlands has grown by 58% since 2007, while there are 33% fewer bars and cafés, the statistics agency CBS reported.

But both sectors have been eclipsed by the rapid growth of event catering over the same period. In 2007 there were 4.2 million companies specialising in event catering compared to 10.4 million restaurants and 12.1 million cafés.

By 2024 the number of event caterers had increased sixfold to 27.1 million, while the number of restaurants was up to 16.5 million and cafés were down to 8.1 million.

Noord-Holland was the province with the busiest hospitality scene, with more than 600 places to eat and drink serving every 100,000 residents. Zeeland and Limburg, two provinces popular with tourists, were in second and fourth place.

The fastest growth was recorded in Flevoland, where the number of establishments tripled in 17 years, reflecting the rapid increase in population in the Netherlands’ newest province.