6. Conclusion
The total population of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has grown by a little less than 10% since the constitutional reform, to 340 thousand inhabitants in 2025. This rise is largely due to an increase in the population of Bonaire, which has grown by nearly 70% (11 thousand residents) since 2011. The increase in the population of Bonaire is largely attributable to the fact that more people have moved to the island than have left.
The average age of the population is higher than it was fifteen years ago. All of the islands are home to more people aged 65 and over than in 2011 or a comparable year. The rise in the number of older people has been most pronounced on Curaçao; the number of those aged 65 and over there increased from 13.8% in 2011 to 25.3% in 2025.
Many island residents do not originate from the islands themselves: one-third of the inhabitants of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba in 2024 were actually born within the BES region. For Bonaire and Saba, the proportion of residents born in the Caribbean Netherlands declined by 10 and 8 percentage points, respectively. More people with origins in the Netherlands or Central and South America have moved to those islands. For Aruba (62%) and St Maarten (41.6%), the share of residents born within the CAS area is much higher.
On all six islands, the majority of the population are in paid employment. However, labour force participation is consistently lower in the CAS countries than on the BES islands, and unemployment is higher. Nevertheless, unemployment has fallen on all the islands in recent years. A familiar problem on the islands is that young people from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands leave to study elsewhere, for example in the European Netherlands, and do not return to the islands after completing their study programmes. The result of the departure of these young people is that the average educational level of residents of the six islands is relatively low. The permanent departure of those with higher vocational (HBO) and university educations can have an impact on the local labour market and on the economies of the islands.
GDP per capita is clearly highest on St Eustatius and lowest on Curaçao and St Maarten, while that of the other three islands is comparable. The economy of St Eustatius has displayed the slowest growth since 2013, while Bonaire’s economy has grown the fastest. Since 2011, prices have risen fastest on Curaçao and slowest on Aruba.