Majority of non-Dutch immigrants are family migrants

© CBS
The largest proportion of people who moved to the Netherlands between 1999 and 2023 with a non-Dutch nationality and were still resident at the end of 2023 are family migrants (644 thousand people). Some of these family migrants joined people who came to the Netherlands earlier or at the same time. Most family migrants were in paid employment at the end of 2023. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released figures on reasons for migration.

A total of 2.38 million people who were resident in the Netherlands at the end of 2023 had arrived between 1999 and 2023. The largest proportion of this group were people with a Dutch nationality who had previously left the country and then returned. This group numbered 673 thousand on 31 December 2023.

The largest proportion of the remaining migrants originally came to the Netherlands as family migrants. On 31 December 2023, there were 406 thousand family migrants from outside the EU/EFTA living in the Netherlands, and 238 thousand from EU/EFTA countries.

 In terms of net migration, 92 thousand people from outside the European Union or EFTA countries and over 24 thousand people from EU/EFTA countries moved to the Netherlands. The number of family migrants within this group is unknown at this time.

Nearly 160 thousand family migrants are family members of labour migrants

Some family migrants move in with someone who has also migrated to the Netherlands. On 31 December 2023, 91 thousand family migrants from outside the EU and 67 thousand family migrants from EU countries were living with a labour migrant. 33 thousand family migrants were living with an asylum migrant (this does not include following family members). This could be a partner or children moving in with family members who migrated to the Netherlands. This is known as family reunification. However, they may also move in with an immigrant with whom they start a new family, which is called family formation.

The remaining family migrants are people who form a family with someone who moved to the Netherlands for another reason, and people who came to the Netherlands to get married, enter into a civil partnership, or live with a partner who came to the Netherlands before 19999 or was born in the Netherlands.

Main source of income family migrants is usually work

The majority of family migrants who came to the Netherlands between 1999 and 2023 and were still living in the Netherlands on 31 December 2023 were either employed by an organisation or self-employed. This applies to 62 percent of family migrants from EU countries and to 48 percent of family migrants from outside the EU.

Among people who moved from within the EU and are living with labour migrants, 56 percent were in employment or self-employed. The figure is 33 percent for those who migrated from countries outside the EU.

Non-EU family migrants are more likely to be pupils or students than those from EU countries. This is true for 39 percent of family migrants from non-EU countries and for 25 percent of those from EU countries who live with a family of labour migrants.

Among family migrants who are not in education, the share of those in employment was 74 percent for EU migrants and 61 percent for non-EU migrants.

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