Dutch electorate is getting older

Virtually all residents with Dutch nationality aged 18 years and older will be eligible to vote in the elections to the Dutch House of Representatives. This includes an estimated 360 thousand young people who will be able to cast their vote for the first time on 29 October, having recently turned 18.

Almost 91 percent of the adult population of the Netherlands is eligible to vote. That share is lower than in previous parliamentary elections: in the 2017 election to the House of Representatives, for example, 94 percent of adult residents were eligible to vote. The reason for this is the rise in immigration: not all migrants have Dutch citizenship.

28 percent of the electorate is aged 65 or over

An estimated 28 percent of those eligible to vote are 65 years of age or older. Thirty years ago, that age group made up 18 percent of the electorate. Around a quarter of voters are aged under 35 years old, and this share has not changed much since 2010. In 1995, voters aged under 35 made up a third of the electorate. The average eligible voter is now 51.1 years old, up from 49.5 years ten years ago and 45.3 years 30 years ago.

In relative terms, the electorate is the oldest in the municipalities of Bergen (41.9 percent are 65 or older) and Laren (41.6 percent) in Noord-Holland, and in Vaals (41.1 percent) in Limburg. Other municipalities in Limburg also have a relatively high number of people aged over 65 who are eligible to vote, as do municipalities in the north and east of the Netherlands and in Zeeland. In the older age groups, more women than men are eligible to vote, because women live longer than men on average.

Highest proportion of young voters in Groningen and Utrecht

University towns tend to have a younger than average electorate. Groningen (39.9 percent) and Utrecht (39.6 percent) have the highest share of eligible voters aged 18-34 years, followed by Leiden, Nijmegen, Wageningen and Delft. Among municipalities without a university, Urk has the largest share of eligible voters in this age group (35.9 percent).

Fewer eligible voters in cities, in relative terms

In the municipality of Vaals in Limburg, only two-thirds of adult residents are entitled to vote - the lowest proportion in the country. Many people who live there have Belgian or German nationality. In the larger cities, too, the share of eligible voters is lower due to the relatively high number of people without Dutch citizenship. In and around Amsterdam (including Diemen and Amstelveen), three-quarters of resident adults are entitled to vote. The Hague and Eindhoven also have a lower than average share of residents entitled to vote.

Municipalities in the northern and eastern parts of the Netherlands have the highest share of adults eligible to vote. The top three include Tubbergen, Dantumadiel and Bronckhorst (all over 98 percent).