Noise nuisance in the Netherlands by source, 1990-2002
The proportion of the Dutch population that suffers noise nuisance has stabilised just above the standard proposed in the policy of 40%.
| 1990 | 1995 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | ||
| % | ||||||||
| Traffic and/or industry | 50 | 44 | 42 | 41 | 43 | 42 | 43 | |
| of which | air traffic | 25 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| rail traffic | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | |
| road traffic | 34 | 30 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 32 | |
| industry | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Neighbours | 27 | 24 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | |
| Source: CBS (2003) | CBS/EDC/May03/0293 | |||||||
| N.B. Respondents aged 18 or over. | ||||||||
Developments in severe nuisance
In 2002, 43% of the population reported experiencing frequent or occasional nuisance from traffic noise (air, rail and/or road) and/or from industry or business. People suffering nuisance from both sources have therefore only been counted once here. In 2002, one in five of the Dutch population also reported experiencing noise nuisance caused by neighbours (CBS, 2003). The percentage of people experiencing frequent or occasional noise nuisance has remained fairly stable in recent years.
Policy
The number of people suffering nuisance would appear have stabilised in recent years just above the objective of 40% (VROM, 1998). So the objective would appear to have been almost achieved.
