Migrants who arrived in last 10 years are staying for longer

© Hollandse Hoogte / Bart Eijgenhuijsen
More than half of non-Dutch migrants leave within five years of arriving in the Netherlands. However, since 2012, each year has seen a progressively smaller share of migrants leaving the Netherlands within five years. Asylum migrants, in particular, now stay in the Netherlands for longer than they used to. Labour and study migrants are more likely to leave, but in recent years the likelihood of departure has declined among that group, too, especially among knowledge migrants from outside the EU. This is according to new figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Of all immigrants holding a nationality other than Dutch (when they arrived in the country) who arrived in the past 25 years, around a third departed within two years and over half left within five years.


Migrants from an EU/EFTA country were more likely to leave (around 60 percent) than migrants from outside the EU (between 40 and 50 percent). The proportion of immigrants who left within five years rose between the immigration years 1999 and 2012. After that it fell, however, especially among immigrants from outside the EU.

Knowledge workers who have arrived more recently are staying in the Netherlands for longer

People who come to the Netherlands to work or study are more likely to leave than other migrants, and to leave sooner, but in recent years this group has also been staying for longer. This is particularly the case among migrant workers from outside the EU, a group that is largely made up of knowledge migrants. Among non-EU migrant workers who came to the Netherlands in 2012, 44 percent left again within two years; among those who arrived in the Netherlands in 2022, the proportion leaving within two years drops to 19 percent.

International students are also more likely to leave, usually after completing their studies. But the likelihood of international students staying for longer has increased recently, particularly among student migrants from Europe.

Recent family migrants are staying for longer

Family migrants, especially those from outside the EU, tend to stay in the Netherlands for longer than most other migrants: 36 percent of family migrants from outside the EU arriving in 2012 had left the Netherlands again within five years. Non-EU family migrants who came to the Netherlands in more recent years were slightly less likely to leave: of those who arrived in 2019, 27 percent had left after five years.

Asylum migrants stay the longest

Of those who registered as migrants in 2012 and were granted residency after seeking asylum (asylum migrants), 20 percent had left five years later. Among those who arrived in 2019, the share had dropped to around 7 percent. There are also differences among asylum migrants. Syrians and Eritreans are more likely to stay longer than five years in the Netherlands, for instance.

Return migration among asylum migrants is determined mainly by the security situation in the country of origin. Whether asylum migrants leave the Netherlands also depends on the composition of that group: 15 years ago there were relatively few asylum seekers and a large share of them came from Somalia. They often left the Netherlands in order to live in the United Kingdom.

Migration dynamics and population growth

Immigration and emigration affect population growth, and differences in migration motives play a role in this. For example, family migrants made up the highest number of non-Dutch migrants between 1999 and 2022, at 31 percent. And because family migrants are less likely than average to leave, by the end of 2022 they made up 37 percent of migrants who had stayed. By contrast, labour migrant, who are more likely to leave, made up 24 percent of arrivals but 18 percent of those who had stayed. Asylum migrants accounted for 12 percent of total immigration during that period, but they made up a slightly higher share of those who had stayed until the end of 2022, at 18 percent.

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