This spring, Locatus conducted the well-known pedestrian counts in dozens of shopping areas. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, we measured foot traffic at various locations in large and small city centers, as well as in neighborhood shopping centers and shopping malls. The results are now available and once again provide an up-to-date picture of foot traffic and pedestrian flows in different shopping areas.
Pedestrian numbers declined significantly during the coronavirus period. Looking at the overall picture, this was almost halved in 2020 compared to 2019. In 2021 and 2022, this remained at approximately the same level, followed by a slight recovery in 2023. Real recovery only took place in 2024, although it has not yet reached the level of before the start of the coronavirus pandemic in either 2024 or 2025. The results for 2026 also show a similar picture to 2024 and 2025, suggesting that the situation is stabilizing further. In the really large city centers, such as Rotterdam and Utrecht, numbers have remained more or less the same. The clearest declines are seen mainly in smaller and more peripheral or regional centers, including Winschoten, Oss, Wijchen, and Hoogvliet, where visitor numbers have decreased further. Additionally, in planned and covered shopping areas, the distribution of passers-by is generally slightly more even than in older city centers, where crowds usually concentrate around one or a few main streets.
At the location level, therefore, increases and decreases differ, but the general picture emerging now is that passer-by numbers appear to be stabilizing following the recovery from the coronavirus slump. What is also striking is that an increase is observable in almost all shopping areas in Belgium.
Order footfall report
Curious about all 32 cities? We have reports for each city covering various shopping areas, providing insight into footfall patterns and pedestrian flows. Because we have been counting in a uniform manner for many years, we are also able to accurately map changes over time by comparing different counts.
Click on the link to view all available cities and order your European passer-by report(s) for a shopping area of your choice now:
