Sports shoulder injuries in the Netherlands hit record 530,000
People in the Netherlands who play sport suffered 5.7 million sports injuries in 2025, and half needed medical treatment, figures from the injury-prevention centre VeiligheidNL show.
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Illustrative photo: Vincenzo.togni / CC BY-SA 4.0
Dutch people who play sport suffered 530,000 shoulder injuries in 2025, the highest number so far, according to figures from VeiligheidNL, the knowledge centre for injury prevention. The number of shoulder injuries is rising considerably.
Across all body parts, 4.7 million people in the Netherlands together picked up 5.7 million sports injuries last year. The figure counts injuries, not people: some were hurt more than once.
VeiligheidNL's annual report shows that half of the injuries required medical treatment.
The knee was the most affected body part, followed by the ankle. The shoulder came third, VeiligheidNL's figures show.
Many sports put heavy strain on the shoulder, among them the popular hyrox (a fitness race) and padel.
Many sports injuries also involve overloaded muscles and tendons. That can mean a hamstring injury, an Achilles tendon injury or tennis elbow.
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