More Than Half of Dutch Eateries Are Now Fast-Food Spots
The Netherlands now has more than 19,000 fast-food outlets, nearly double the number in 2007, and for the first time they outnumber regular restaurants, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
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The Netherlands has developed a growing appetite for fast food, at least judging by how many places now sell it. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the number of fast-food outlets in the country has almost doubled over the past twenty years, and for the first time they outnumber traditional restaurants.
The figures
At the start of 2026, the Netherlands had more than 19,000 fast-food outlets, up from around 10,000 in 2007. Regular restaurants grew over the same period too, but more slowly, from about 11,000 to just over 19,000. In total the country now has close to 39,000 eating places, and slightly more than half of them are fast-food outlets. Until 2019 it was the other way round, with restaurants in the majority.
What counts as ‘fast food’
One thing is worth clearing up, because the term can be misleading. In the CBS figures, “fast food” does not just mean the well-known international burger chains. It also covers a range of typically Dutch establishments: the cafetaria or snackbar, the broodjeszaak or sandwich shop, food stalls, and ijssalons, or ice cream parlours. So the trend is less about a wave of new burger restaurants and more about a broad category of quick, casual places to grab a bite.
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Where they are
Unsurprisingly, the outlets cluster where the people are. The four big cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, together account for almost 20 percent of all the fast-food outlets in the country. Amsterdam alone has around 1,600, followed by Rotterdam with just under 1,000, The Hague with around 790 and Utrecht with roughly 445.
Measured against population, though, it is the tourist areas that stand out. On average the Netherlands has a little more than one fast-food outlet per thousand residents, but on the island of Vlieland there are more than eight per thousand, with the other Wadden islands of Schiermonnikoog, Ameland and Terschelling close behind. The coast and other holiday spots are similarly well supplied. At the other end of the scale, the municipality of Staphorst has proportionally the fewest.
Why the increase
The main explanation, according to CBS, has less to do with diet than with money and habits. As the country has grown more prosperous, people have simply been eating out more often. “This is probably due to increased prosperity,” said CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen. “We have more money to spend, so we go out to eat more often, or grab a sandwich or an ice cream.”
The rise in fast-food outlets has not gone entirely unnoticed by policymakers. In recent years there have been political calls to limit the number of fast-food shops in city centres, partly out of concern for public health and the character of shopping streets, though the CBS figures themselves are a simple count of businesses rather than a statement about what people should eat.