21 thousand inhabitants of Ukrainian origin

A quarter of the population of former Soviet origin were born in the Netherlands and have one or two parents who were born in that region; three quarters were born there themselves. Of these 89 thousand migrants, the largest group comes from Russia (over 25 thousand), followed by Ukraine (15 thousand). The group of migrants from the Baltic states and the Caucasus who have moved here over the years is relatively large as well. For example, nearly 10 thousand Lithuanians, over 7 thousand Latvians and 6 thousand people from Azerbaijan and Armenia live in the Netherlands.

The Baltic states include Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Caucasus consists of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova are part of the western republics. The other countries - Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan - fall under Central Asia.

Ukrainians and Russians mainly residing in cities

People of Ukrainian origin are relatively most commonly found in the Randstad conurbation: in and around Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. They also hold relatively large shares in other cities, especially in student cities such as Eindhoven, Groningen, Maastricht and Enschede. This pattern is similar for residents of Russian origin.

Immigration mostly since 2006

The majority of the population as at 1 January 2022 who were born in a former Soviet country have lived in the Netherlands for 15 years or less. Immigration from these countries has increased every year as of 2006, except in 2020 during the coronavirus crisis. There have mainly been more immigrants from the Baltic states, which joined the European Union in 2004. Numbers from Russia and Ukraine have gone up as well since then. A relatively large group has been living in the Netherlands since the turn of the century. At that time, mainly refugees from the Caucasus and Russia came to the Netherlands, due in part to the conflict in Chechnya. Before 1990, there were hardly any immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Only after the collapse of the Soviet Union did immigration increase.

Some of the immigrants leave again after a number of years. Of all Russians and Ukrainians immigrating in 2017, 77 percent were still living in the Netherlands after two years. This was over 70 percent after three years. Of all Latvian and Lithuanian immigrants, more than half were no longer living in the Netherlands after three years. In 2021, 12.5 thousand immigrants from the (former) Soviet Union came to the Netherlands, while 5.8 thousand people emigrated to this region.

More women than men

More women than men immigrated from former Soviet countries. This explains why there are more women than men from this region among the population as at 1 January. The percentage share of women varies by country of origin. Two thirds of the Ukrainian and Russian migrants are women; this share is 52 percent among migrants from the Caucasus.

Men with Ukrainian or Russian nationality who immigrated in 2019 (before the coronavirus pandemic) mainly came for work. However, other motives included education and family reunification. Women most likely came for family reunification. In addition, education was a relatively common reason for Russian women to migrate. The motives for migration were similar in previous years.