In the municipality of Rozendaal, 1 in 10 owner-occupied homes has a private swimming pool. Blaricum is number two: 5.5 percent of owner-occupied homes there have a private swimming pool. When it comes to public swimming pools, the cards are shuffled differently in the Netherlands. On Vlieland, residents share a public swimming pool with – relatively speaking – the fewest number of fellow residents, namely 209 others. This is evident from our recent analysis.
Relatively most private swimming pools in Gelderland
Research has been conducted in which municipalities owner-occupied homes have the largest share of private swimming pools. Warm weather is good for residents of the municipality of Rozendaal: more than 10 percent of the owner-occupied homes in the municipality have a private swimming pool. “Rozendaal is a real millionaire’s municipality, but one that is located in the middle of the vast Veluwe. The homes there have proportionally larger plots than, for example, in Blaricum or Rhenen. In addition, Rozendaal, measured by number of inhabitants, is almost the smallest municipality on the Dutch mainland. Only Vlieland and Schiermonnikoog have fewer inhabitants,” says Luke Liplijn, founder and CEO at Matrixian.
Top five municipalities with the largest share of private swimming pools in owner-occupied homes:
- Municipality of Rozendaal: 10,5%
- Municipality of Blaricum: 5,5%
- Municipality of Rhenen: 5,5%
- Municipality of West Maas en Waal: 4,4%
- Municipality of Schiermonnikoog: 4,1%
Public swimming pools in the Netherlands
People who are looking for cooling off and do not have a private swimming pool – in other words the majority of Dutch people – can go to the public swimming pools in the Netherlands. The top five municipalities with the most public swimming pools per inhabitant are as follows:
- Municipality of Vlieland: 6 swimming pools for 1,255 inhabitants (209 inhabitants per swimming pool)
- Municipality of Schiermonnikoog: 4 swimming pools for 972 inhabitants (243 inhabitants per swimming pool)
- Municipality of Ommen: 34 swimming pools for 19,031 inhabitants (560 inhabitants per swimming pool)
- Municipality of Baarle-Nassau:10 swimming pools for 7,076 inhabitants (708 inhabitants per swimming pool)
- Municipality of Ameland:4 swimming pools for 3,839 inhabitants (960 inhabitants per swimming pool)
In the municipality of Hilversum you share a public swimming pool with – relatively speaking – most local residents: there you share one swimming pool with 47,218 others. This is followed by the municipality of Utrecht, where you share a public swimming pool with 46,780 others.
Large ratio differences
The difference between the highest number of inhabitants per public swimming pool and the lowest number of inhabitants per swimming pool is large in the Netherlands. “If you look at the population density of large cities, it is logical that you share a swimming pool with more people there than in Vlieland. Moreover, despite its low population, Vlieland has a lot of tourism,” Liplijn explains. This does not mean that Hilversumers and Utrecht residents also have a lesser swimming experience. “Residents can move to other municipalities or recreational lakes, such as the Loosdrechtse or Vinkeveense Plassen.”
About the research into public swimming pools
The figures come from our recent analysis. These are public swimming pools for which you must purchase an entrance ticket. These could be swimming pools at a hotel, holiday park or gym, for example.
About the research into private swimming pools
The analysis of private swimming pools is based on data from homes offered for sale since 2019. The percentage of properties offered for sale that have a swimming pool was examined and compared with all properties offered in a specific municipality . This was then extrapolated. Because rental properties were not taken into account – and they generally do not have a swimming pool – the actual percentage will be lower than the estimate described above.
