Over 5 percent of Dutch population lived through the liberation of 1945

© ANP / ANP
On 5 May 2025, the Netherlands celebrates 80 years of freedom since the country was occupied during World War II. A total of 932 thousand Dutch people alive today experienced the country's liberation in 1945. That is over 5 percent of the current population. A total of 423 thousand people were aged 5 or older at the time and are therefore able to remember it. This is according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
In 2015, nearly 12 percent of the population was born before 1945, and 2 million people had lived through the liberation of 1945 (including those who were not yet old enough to remember it). The number is expected to fall to around 200 thousand by 2035. By 2045, 100 years after World War II, it is estimated that there will be nearly 7 thousand people aged 100 or older who were alive at the time of the liberation. Due to women’s longer life expectancy, more women than men lived through the liberation in 1945.


Over 400 thousand people alive today were aged 5 or older during liberation

Not everyone who lived through the liberation 80 years ago would have been aware of what was going on. On 1 January 2025, there were 423 thousand people in the Netherlands who were aged between 5 and 20 years at the time of the liberation. There were also nearly 2.6 thousand people who were 20 years or older in 1945 - now aged 100 or older.

In 1995, 50 years after the liberation, there were nearly 3.5 million people who were 5 years or older at the time of liberation. Since then, the number has fallen: in 2018, it was below 1 million for the first time.


Majority of people aged 80 and over live in the north and near the Dutch borders

The share of people born before 1945, who were older than 80 years on 1 January 2025, is higher in the north of the Netherlands and near the border with Germany and Belgium than in other regions. Flevoland and the large cities, on the other hand, have relatively few inhabitants aged 80 or older.

In relative terms, most people aged 80 and over live in the municipality of Laren (12 percent) in the province of Noord-Holland, followed by Bergen, which is located in the same province (over 10 percent). The municipalities of Almere, Urk and Utrecht have the lowest share of people aged 80 and over, each with less than 3 percent. Almere is a municipality with a fairly young population, Urk has a relatively large number of young people due to its high birth rate, and Utrecht has a large student population. As a result, these municipalities have a smaller share of people who were alive at the time of the liberation in 1945.

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