The Netherlands: More Dutch seniors active on social media

Social media usage among the elderly in the Netherlands has soared in recent years. The group 65 to 74-year-olds in particular have become increasingly active users.

In 2019, 76 percent of the respondents in this age category said they had used social media, up from 40 percent five years previously.

An increase in social media use was also seen among people aged 75 and over. Exchanging text messages, via WhatsApp for example, is most popular among the elderly. This is according to recent figures taken from the survey on ICT usage by households and individuals in 2019, conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

In 2019, 87 percent of the Dutch population aged 12 years and over indicated they had used social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, discussion forums or weblogs in the previous three months. This was still 74 percent five years previously.

Virtually everyone in the age group 12 to 54 years use social media (95 percent or more). The shares were 89 percent among 55 to 64-year-olds and 76 percent among 65 to 74-year-olds last year. In 2014, these shares amounted to 64 and 40 percent respectively.

An increase in social media use is also seen among Dutch seniors over the age of 75: in 2014, 13 percent were active while five years this had risen to 40 percent.

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