More than half of eligible voters are aged 50 or older

• 96.6 percent of the adult population is eligible to vote in the Netherlands’ forthcoming municipal elections.
• The Dutch electorate is getting older.
• Bergen and Laren have the highest proportion of eligible voters aged 65 and over.

Of the adult population of the Netherlands, 96.6 percent will be eligible to vote in the forthcoming municipal elections. Over half of that group is aged 50 or older. For 820,000 young people, this will be the first time they are entitled to vote in municipal elections, because four years ago they were younger than 18. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of provisional figures.

All residents of the Netherlands who are aged 18 years or older on 18 March and hold Dutch nationality are eligible to vote in the municipal elections. Resident European Union nationals are also eligible to vote, and residents from outside the EU are eligible to vote if they have been living in the Netherlands for five years or longer.

A total of 14.3 million people are eligible to vote in one of the 340 municipalities where elections are being held. This represents 96.6 percent of the adult population. This percentage is less than at the previous municipal elections, when the share was 98.0 percent. This is due to the higher share of immigrants, not all of whom have been resident in the Netherlands long enough to be eligible to vote.

Lower percentage of eligible voters in and around major urban areas

Of the adult population, the proportion of eligible voters is the lowest in Amstelveen (89 percent), followed by Diemen and Wageningen (90 and 91 percent). In and around other (student) cities, the share of residents aged 18 and older who are eligible to vote is also relatively low. These municipalities have a higher share of people who hold a non-EU nationality and have been living in the Netherlands for less than five years. This also applies to municipalities where a relatively large number of people are registered as asylum seekers in the Netherlands, such as Gilze-Rijen.

In the younger age groups, the share of eligible voters is smaller than in the older age groups. Among those aged 18 to 35, 93 percent are eligible to vote, while almost all those aged 65 and over are eligible to vote.

More than half of eligible voters are aged 50 or older

Just over half of eligible voters are aged 50 or older. A quarter are between 50 and 65, and almost 27 percent are aged 65 or older. The Dutch electorate is ageing. In the 2014 municipal elections, just under half of voters were aged 50 or older, and 22 percent were aged 65 or older.

Bergen and Laren have the highest share of eligible voters aged 65 and older (41 percent each). Zeeland, Limburg and the north-east of the Netherlands also have a relatively high number of municipalities with an older electorate. In Utrecht (14 percent), Urk (16 percent) and Amsterdam (18 percent), on the other hand, the share of eligible voters aged 65 or older is lower.

Relatively high number of younger voters in Groningen and Wageningen

Nationwide, around 26 percent of eligible voters are younger than 35. These young voters tend to live in urban areas, particularly student cities. In addition to Groningen (43 percent), Wageningen, Delft, Utrecht and Leiden are also in the top five (around 40 percent each). Other municipalities with relatively high numbers of young voters include Urk (36 percent) and Staphorst (30 percent).

More than 6 percent of eligible voters are not Dutch nationals

6.4 percent of the eligible voting population has a nationality other than Dutch. This share is often higher in cities, but also in municipalities in the southern border region. The three municipalities with the most non-Dutch voters are Vaals (32 percent), The Hague (18 percent) and Amsterdam (18 percent). In the north and east of the country, only a small proportion of those eligible to vote are not Dutch nationals.