This report provides an overview of the available quantitative information about osteoporosis in the Netherlands, and of the costs associated with it. We present information relevant for this country, making as few assumptions as possible. Although the main subject is osteoporosis, the focus in this report is on fractures, as these are the most relevant outcome events of this condition. Data were collected from publicly available data sources and from international literature and information is mostly about the year 1993. The reader finds detailed information about the occurrence of osteoporosis and fractures, the utilization of health care, mortality, and the costs in the results section of this report. In the conclusions, we present a synthesis of the most important findings. Osteoporosis is, by consensus, defined as a systemic skeletal disease, characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. There is an important age-related decrease in bone mass and bone strength. Osteoporosis is primarily described in post-menopausal women but men are not free from it; they also reach high fracture incidence rates at an older age. Combined with the longer survival of women, this leads to the observation that most osteoporotic fractures are encountered in females. Osteoporosis and fractures are a major source of illness and healthcare costs in the Netherlands, both today as in the foreseeable future. Especially the most serious consequence, hip fracture, is frequent and the incidence is increasing. The total number of hip fractures will inevitable rise if no serious prevention efforts are undertaken. For the prevention of osteoporotic fractures it is important to know who are at risk as well as which preventive strategy is effective for the different risk categories. The parameter that is most commonly used nowadays to determine fracture risk is bone mineral density (BMD), but also other factors are important ...