Written by According to the World Happiness Report, the Netherlands is one of the happiest places in the world in 2019. This is a UN authorized report, placing Holland in the top 5 after Finland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. Find out why you might find your luck here too, in this LDO Blog article on the top 5 reasons to move to the Netherlands now!
1. The best tap water in the world
Okay, not the best, but still amongst the best. Either way, we are one of the few nations in the world that do not treat drinking water with chlorine. Dutch water undergoes multiple purification steps before reaching the tap, involving sand filtration, ozone, carbon and UV treatment and filtration through special membranes.
So, where does the tasty and clear Dutch drinking water here actually come from?
According to the Dutch Drinking Water Statistics from 2017, 58 percent is provided by groundwater, 41 percent from lakes and river and one percent is obtained from natural sand dune water.
On top of that, most of the pipeline guiding the water is younger than 40 years. This obviously helps prevent pollution from corroding pipes. Why won’t you experience it yourself and have a good glass of Dutch tap water right now?
2. Extremely well organised & lots of business opportunities
As soon as you set foot in the Netherlands, you’ll notice how neatly organised everything looks (and is, most of the time). Clean, perfectly laid streets, tight, good looking architecture, everthing in place. Always. Which can come across as neurotic and annoying, but generally helps alot. Who doesn’t like a top infrastructure, right?
Business idea? Entrepreneur? You should feel right at home in Holland!
The Netherlands was ranked sixth in INSEAD’s Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2020.
This index is used as a reference of choice by international governments, business, and talent experts. Switzerland, the US and Singapore took the first three positions. The Netherlands gained two places in this ranking, as we were named the eighth-best country for talent competitiveness in 2019.
3. Diverse & International
Especially in the big cities life can be very nice, as everthing can be found around the corner: döner, spicy food from the old Dutch colonies, your local Morrocan bakery and a Dutch ‘friettent’ for your fries with mayonaise, burgers and – of course – kapsalon. As diverse and rich the Dutch kitchen is nowadays, the more the population is. You’ll notice it everywhere: your work, neighbourhood, on TV, in Dutch music etc.
As the Netherlands is learning more and more on its colonial history, diversity is ever a hot topic. Fact of the matter is, we, as a country, always relied on foreign help. If you are seriously considering moving to the Netherlands, you probably come here to work – which makes you a very welcome guest and Dutchie to be.
4. Great holidays and festivals
Koningsdag, Sinterklaas, Suikerfeest, Holi: the first two are your typical, ‘orginal’ Dutch festivals, the latter are also commonly celebrated by everyone in our little, fun country.
Koningsdag is when you get to dress up in orange and act a fool the whole day – or sell your long-kept stuff to make some good money (no joke). Or, you could take it easy, and make it a traditional family & friends day, going out, enjoying good food, the free market and (hopefully) the weather. Don’t expect Amsterdam, Rotterdam or one of the other big cities to be anywhere near quiet. You’ll find quite the opposite.
Yes, Sinterklaas is indeed that festival which is up to debate these last 10 years (and long before that, too, if you know your Dutch history). This debate centers around another – unfortunate – Dutch tradition – racism. And we didn’t make this up, other legendary Dutchies did. Besides this, it’s a nice time of the year, with amazing candy (chocoladeletters and pepernoten!) and fun time with friends and family.
Expect to find iftars everywhere – from your local police department to your hiphop club.
When our Dutch muslims have their month of fasting, everyone is fasting more or less. Our top supermarkets provide special departments with dates, typical sweets and more, and you can attend a bazar or event somewhere every week.
If you’re more into colours, powders and energetic music – join the annual ‘festival of colours’ (Holi). This festival was up for debate, too, as many considered it a form of cultural appropiation. Which it probably was, taking into account how thing developed afterwards regarding racism here. Luckily, we’re moving on: this hindu festival is celebrated in one form or another nearly everywhere – especially in Amstelveen, Den Haag, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where alot of peeps with Indian roots live.
5. Good work & life options and balance
The Netherlands is the country with the best work-life balance, according to the latest OECD Better Life Index. We secured 9.3 out of a possible 10 points based on how well Dutch households successfully balance work, family commitments and personal life.
The Netherlands scored well in several categories, securing its top ranking. The country knows high literacy levels and has citizens that are highly engaged in politics. Additionaly, the Netherlands knows a strong sense of community.
The Netherlands is one of the top 5 happiest countries in the world according to the UN – as you read in the introduction of this post.
The ‘World Happiness’ report focuses on 6 key factors in deciding the overall happiness level of a country: income, freedom to make life choices, healthy life expectancy, social support, generosity and corruptions levels. As completely unbiased Dutchies working with internationals, we can vouch for a high quality of all of these here in NL!