Six in ten young people have confidence in politics, interest has increased

More and more young people are engaging with politics. This has been particularly noticeable in recent years. Young people now have more confidence in politics than older people.

They also take part in protests and demonstrations more often. This is according to Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS) following research conducted in 2025. In 2025, 62 percent of young people aged 15 to 18 had confidence in politics.

Among those aged 18 to 25, the figure was 55 percent. Older people aged 65 to 75 have much less confidence in politics. For this group, the figure was just 31 percent.

In recent years, confidence increased only among young people aged 18 to 25. Young people between the ages of 18 and 35 take part in protests or demonstrations most often. They are usually students or have studied at a university of applied sciences or a university.

After 2018, more young people attended protests, but this declined again in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, more people from all groups took part in protests again. Older people have less confidence in politics, but they do find politics more interesting than young people do.

In 2025, 37 percent of young people aged 15 to 18 were interested in politics. Among older people aged 65 to 75, the figure was 64 percent. During the coronavirus pandemic (2021), young people were much more interested in politics, particularly those aged 18 to 25.

Interest then declined, but it increased again in 2024 and 2025.