Facts & Figures
Your host in a nutshell
A few facts and figures about why Groningen has what it takes to host your conference or event.
Young, Healthy and Happy
- 244,427 inhabitants
- 120+ different nationalities
- 60,000+ students
- One of the youngest cities in the Netherlands, with 50% of its residents under the age of 35
- Home to Eurosonic Noorderslag, one of the largest music festivals in Europe
- The cleanest air in the Netherlands
- Cycling capital of the world
- Top 3 happiest cities in Europe
Digital infastructure
- A leading ICT and digital city
- A major location for hyperscale data centres
- One of the world’s leading bases for offshore wind farms
- Home to the world’s largest Blockchain and A.I. hackathon
- The first national 5G field lab
- A landing point for a high-speed transatlantic fibre-optic cable connecting the US and Europe
- Google’s first data centre powered by 100% renewable energy
Home of startups and scale-ups
- Groningen is one of the Dutch frontrunners in fast-growing tech companies
- 193 start-ups and scale-ups in Groningen, accounting for over 8,000 tech jobs
- More than 40 companies in the Life Cooperative Sector, generating over €400 million in annual turnover
- HackerOne was a Groningen-based start-up and is now a Silicon Valley scale-up
City of Talent
- 4 Nobel Prize Laureates
- Around 44,8% of the population has a university degree
- 6 of the country’s most innovative SMEs
- The first electric car was invented here in 1835
- The first hydrogen powered Tesla was developed here
Never ending hospitality
- Hundreds of bars, cafes, clubs and restaurants to choose from
- No official closing hours
- 30 hotels with around 1,700 hotel rooms
- Groningen shines with 12 restaurants featured in Gault&Millau 2026
