Fewer British nationals coming to the Netherlands since Brexit

© ANP / Joris van Gennip
Fewer British nationals have been coming to live in the Netherlands since the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020. Up until 2019, immigration among British nationals was on the rise. The number of Dutch nationals moving to the United Kingdom continued to decline throughout that period. This is according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
In 2024, 3.0 thousand British people (people born in the UK) moved to the Netherlands, while in 2019 the number was 6.5 thousand. The number of British nationals returning to the UK from the Netherlands has also declined since 2020. The number was 2.2 thousand in 2024, almost one thousand fewer than in 2019. Net migration (immigration minus emigration) from the UK to the Netherlands was 790.

Number of Dutch nationals moving to UK declines further

Fewer Dutch people (people born in the Netherlands) have been emigrating to the United Kingdom since 2015. In that year, over 4 thousand Dutch people moved to the UK, but by 2024 the number has dropped to 1.3 thousand, the fewest in 30 years.

Fewer Dutch people are returning to the Netherlands, too. Net migration from the Netherlands to the UK was only a few hundred in 2024. In 2015, it was 2.3 thousand.

Number of third-country migrants moving from UK to Netherlands down by half

At the peak in 2019, almost 6 thousand non-Dutch and non-British nationals moved from the UK to the Netherlands. In 2024, there were over 3 thousand of them, mainly from Poland, India and Somalia. Third-country migrants moving from the Netherlands to the UK also include a relatively high number of people from India and Somalia, as well as (more recently) Ukraine.

Ever more EU citizens leaving UK

A declining number of EU nationals have been moving to the UK since 2019. In 2024, nearly 100 thousand more citizens of the EU-27 left the UK than moved there. By comparison, in 2015 net migration to the UK from the EU was nearly 290 thousand.

 

Fall in non-EU migration to the UK in 2024

In the years immediately following Brexit, a growing number of non-EU nationals settled in the United Kingdom: the number rose from 294 thousand in 2020 to over 1 million in 2023. In 2024, 766 thousand non-EU nationals settled in the UK. In the past five years, around 160 thousand non-EU nationals have left the UK each year. Net migration to the UK among non-EU nationals was 540 thousand in 2024.


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