Population growth slows for fourth consecutive year

Slower growth due to migration

Most migrants arrive in the Netherlands during the summer months. In Q3 2026 there were 100 thousand arrivals, slightly fewer than in Q3 2025 (103 thousand). In the first nine months of 2026, 226 thousand people came to live in the Netherlands, while 160 thousand left the country to live elsewhere. This resulted in a net increase of 66 thousand due to external migration, down by 15 thousand from the same period in 2025.

Immigration in the first three quarters of 2026 was lower than in the same period from 2022-2025, but still higher than in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic. However, net migration was higher in 2019, because fewer people left the country that year.

Migration from Syria down

Fewer people arrived in the Netherlands from Syria, in particular. In the first nine months of 2026, nearly 14 thousand Syrians registered with a Dutch municipality, compared to over 21 thousand in the previous year. These are mainly people who have been granted asylum. They are counted as immigrants as soon as they have registered with a municipality in the Netherlands.

The decline in the number of Syrians arriving in the Netherlands is partly due to the fact that people with Syrian nationality are no longer automatically granted asylum, because Syria is now considered relatively safe (The State of Migration 2026). In addition, nearly 2 thousand Syrians have left the Netherlands, resulting in a net increase of nearly 12 thousand. Arrivals from Iraq, Iran, Somalia and Yemen – the other main countries from which asylum seekers arrive – were also down compared with 2025. By contrast, the number of people arriving in the Netherlands from Eritrea increased.

In the first nine months of 2026, there was a net increase in refugees from Ukraine of nearly 10 thousand. Since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukrainians have been entitled to live in the Netherlands under the Temporary Protection Directive. The number of Ukrainians arriving in the Netherlands was roughly the same as in the same period of 2025. Ukrainians constitute the second-largest group of immigrants, after Syrians. The number of Russians arriving has been declining for several years.

Net migration from EU countries remains unchanged

In the first three quarters of 2026, 79 thousand migrants from countries in the EU arrived in the Netherlands, the same number as the same period in 2025. Meanwhile, there were fewer migrants from outside the EU, resulting in a rise in net migration from EU countries of 13 thousand in 2026, compared with 10 thousand in the same period last year.

There were more migrants from Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Romania. However, net migration among migrants from Poland was down by 1.5 thousand.

Birth rate and death rate both rose slightly

More people died than were born in the first nine months of 2026, just as in the previous three years. 131 thousand people died, an increase of 1.4 thousand, year on year. 127 thousand babies were born, 900 more than the previous year. The number of deaths exceeded the number of births by almost 4 thousand.