World Toilet Day 2025

On World Toilet Day, HogeNood traditionally presents the annual national Toilet Friendliness Rankings Municipalities 2025.
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Heerhugowaard, November 19, 2025
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‍Dutchmunicipalities continue to fall short in providing sufficient toilets. Rozendaal, Voerendaal and Boekel are at the bottom of the rankings this year, making them among the least toilet-friendly municipalities in the Netherlands. A total of 228 municipalities scored insufficiently, with a rating lower than 5.5. Major bottlenecks in these municipalities compared to the good scoring municipalities are a lack of the number of toilets and a lack of municipal policy.

This year, Veere leads the list as the most toilet-friendly municipality in the Netherlands, with a total of 859 points, or report mark 8.6, followed by West Maas en Waal(7.8) and Culemborg(7.7).These municipalities score well on a high density of toilets, which are in close proximity to each other with sufficient available facilities (suitable for men, women and wheelchair accessible). Thereby, there is a good ratio of public and open toilets and these municipalities score well on policy.
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Strongest risers and fallers in 2025
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Municipality of Tubbergen has risen the fastest on the list namely from a rating of 3.0 to a 7.5, followed by Drimmelen and Coevorden. Municipality Oude Ijsselstreek does well, as every year, with adding toilets. The number of toilets has therefore grown 58 in the past year. In terms of growth in numbers, Breda and Oss follow, having both added more than 30 toilets. Municipality of Drimmelen went from only 2 toilets to 34 toilets.

On the other hand, we also see decreases. The municipality of Dantumadiel and Doesburg both drop by 150 points compared to last year and now both score a rating of 3. The supply of toilets here was already below 5 so they were not high flyers last year either. Municipality of Delft lost 20 toilets in the past year, but still 115 remain so they are now in position 39 with a 6.9.
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Toilet shortage remains major problem: 1 in 4 Dutch is restricted
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Access to a toilet is still a major social problem in the Netherlands. One in four Dutch people experience limitations in daily life due to the shortage of toilets. Elderly people, people with a bladder or bowel disease, parents with young children and tourists are the most limited, but people without medical limitations also experience inconvenience when shopping, going out, traveling or sporting events.

We use the 500-meter standard for the Netherlands, which means a five-minute walk to the toilet before the need becomes too great. For 25% of Dutch residents, it is important to quickly find a toilet that is suitable before it is too late and accidents happen. Of the public and open toilets that are available, 72% meet the 500-meter standard, which amounts to a five-minute walk.  

This is of course very nice, but is still heavily clustered on inner cities. If we look at habitable area in the Netherlands, the coverage is currently less than 1% and the Netherlands shows large white spots. This coverage therefore masks the fact that large parts of the country have no toilet at all nearby. For wheelchair users, the situation is even more dire as only 26% of toilets meet the standard.  

For international comparison, Paris has 750 public toilets for 2 million inhabitants. Our capital city, Amsterdam, has 57 public toilets for 1 million residents, with many of them also only suitable for men. This puts the Netherlands behind European standards.  

"A toilet is not a luxury, but a basic right," says Bastiaan Meindersma (HogeNood), noting that everyone should be able to have a day out, go shopping or take a walk without worry. We have been working with municipalities, companies and civil society organizations for 15 years to solve this structurally."
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Our mission: accessible restrooms at all times for everyone

A good coverage of hygienic and accessible toilets within all municipalities in the Netherlands that meet the established standards is the goal that HogeNood and its cooperation partners jointly strive for. In which it is our mission to make accessible toilets findable for everyone at all times. Every Dutch person needs a toilet. Especially the people who, due to the lack of toilet facilities, are anxious to go out or are afraid to go out at all. Something that frequently happens to people with digestive problems, stoma or incontinence, for example.

In addition, having access to a hygienic toilet is good for Dutch health. Among other things, this prevents people from holding up their needs and/or drinking less before going out. In other words, sufficient hygienic and accessible toilets are quite a relief for both residents and visitors to municipalities! This allows everyone to enjoy an accessible, inclusive and welcoming municipality.
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The 6 indicators for determining the ranking of toilet friendliest municipality 2025

The fact that the municipality of Veere is the most toilet-friendly municipality in the Netherlands did not come out of the blue, of course. In order to be able to determine which municipality may bear this honorable title, a ranking of all 342 municipalities in the Netherlands is drawn up every year. In order to be able to give a fair result, a previously established points system is used. The amount of points awarded to a municipality depends on the following indicators:
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1. Density - The number of inhabitants divided by the number of restrooms (max. 300 points)
2. Facilities - The facilities per toilet location. The more people the toilet is suitable for the higher the number of points (max. 300 points)
3. Proximity - The 500 meter standard, where to is no more than 500 meters apart (max. 150 points)
4. Public vs. Open - % Public restrooms of the total number of restrooms within the municipality (max. 100 points)
5. Policy - What policy does the township have for restrooms. Have questions been asked, has a motion been made, has a motion passed, is there an active policy? (max. 100 points)
6. Partner - Is the municipality a collaborative partner of HogeNood (0 or 50 points)

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The full rankings

In the media, some articles talk about a report grade where the points obtained are divided by 100. The number one municipality of Veere has 859 points and thus a report grade of 8.6.

View full rankings including all scores by indicator here https://www.hogenood.nl/ranglijst-toiletvriendelijkste-gemeenten-volledige-ranglijst-indicatoren