The rising cost of living is the biggest concern for Dutch people in 2025. This is evident from the annual Issue Monitor of communications agency Issuemakers, conducted by Markteffect. No less than 45 percent of respondents believe that the government is responsible for solving this issue. In addition, safety in Europe and the influx of asylum seekers dominate the list of social concerns.
It is striking that women and people aged 41 and over are more concerned about the rising cost of living than men and people aged 18 to 41. Issues that are particularly important to young people are housing prices and mental health, such as depression and burnout.
Despite the ongoing concerns, the Dutch rate 2025 with the same score as 2024: a 6.9.
Top 10 Worries
The Issue Monitor shows that the Dutch are mainly concerned about:
- Rising cost of living
- Safety in Europe
- (Increasing) influx of asylum seekers
- War in Ukraine
- Hardening / vulgarization of society
- Global warming / CO2 / consequences of climate change
- Crime and safety in Dutch society
- Price of owner-occupied and rental properties
- Increasing (hybrid) threat of war
- Increasing violence
Compared to 2024, the Dutch are clearly more concerned about safety in Europe and the affordability of owner-occupied and rental homes in 2025.
Who should solve it?
For most issues, the Dutch point to the government as the responsible party. Think of issues such as housing shortage, quality and accessibility of healthcare, education and public transport.
Politics is surprisingly less often mentioned as responsible, except for topics such as the future of the EU and cultural funding. For environmental problems and inequality, the Dutch mainly put the ball in the business community's court, such as in the case of pollution by large companies, performance pressure and unequal pay for women.
Signal from society: listen more and act faster
The annual statements show that, both last year and this year, there is dissatisfaction about the lack of mutual understanding in society. In addition, the Dutch believe that politics should make decisions more quickly and signal a problem with enforcement.
Issue monitor
The Issue Monitor is an annual survey by strategic communications agency Issuemakers, which provides an overview of the issues at stake and how the Dutch view them. The Issue Monitor is conducted by Markteffect, this year among a representative sample of 1010 respondents.
Dutch 
Dutch 
English 
Dutch 
Dutch 
English