Population
In 2017, over 838 thousand jobs in the Netherlands were filled by foreign workers. Polish workers constitute the largest group, occupying nearly 180 thousand jobs.
Over the past three years, increasingly few Dutch nationals have moved to the United Kingdom. Until 2016, the number of Dutch citizens leaving for the UK was still rising.
Background file on population and immigration.
Dossier page on socioeconomic status of migrants
In 2017, the average age of young people leaving the parental home was 23.5 years, versus 22.8 years in 2012.
In most marriages, the female half is younger than the male half. Marriages in which the husband is much younger are relatively rare.
The number of asylum requests increased again in 2018, with a notable rise in the number of Turkish citizens filing asylum applications.
Discussion Paper about now casting monthly unemployment figures using auxiliary series derived from big data sources.
The number of households in the Netherlands is projected to have grown to 8.5 million by the year 2030, from the current 7.9 million.
The population of the Netherlands grew by an estimated 104 thousand people in 2018. The growth rate was similar to that in the past two years.
According to the latest forecast by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the population of the Netherlands will continue to grow in the coming years. The 18 millionth inhabitant is expected to arrive in 2029.
The Emancipation Monitor by CBS and SCP shows that the economic position of women has improved.
We consider variance estimation for the Dutch virtual Census, when mass imputation is used for educational attainment.
Almost 3/4 of couples with a Turkish, Moroccan or native Dutch background are still together after 12 years.
The second generation of people with a Turkish and Moroccan background are increasingly resembling their native Dutch contemporaries, getting married and having children later. More and more often, the bride or the groom was not born outside of the Netherlands.
In 2017, there were relatively more people in their late twenties living with their parents in the Netherlands than in 2010. This also holds true for most other EU countries.
The Netherlands is one of the 19 member states of the European Union (EU) with a growing population. This is mainly due to migration, which is also the case in most other countries with population growth.
What will be the remaining life expectancy of 65-year-olds in the toekomst? A new projection by CBS set remaining life expectancy at 20.63 years for 2024.
In the first three quarters of 2018, the population of the Netherlands grew by 81 thousand. Population growth is similar to the same period one year previously. Foreign migration is the largest contributing factor.
In Q3 2018, the number of asylum seekers and following family members was up on Q2 as well as on 2017.
Record number of immigrants (235 thousand) and emigrants (154 thousand) in 2017, highest net migration (81 thousand).
Nearly 1 in 5 adults born 1971-1991 did not live with both parents during childhood.Three-quarters went through parental divorce. Over 4 in 10 describe their stepfather as their father, 2 in 10 are no longer in contact with their biological father.
The Netherlands ten years after the onset of the global credit crisis. Developments in unemployment, GDP, labour participation, housing market, social assistance benefits, debt liabilities and other indicators, together providing a comprehensive picture of the situation before, during and after the crisis.
Both in the Netherlands and in the EU, the increase in life expectancy is slowing down compared to previous periods. The largest increase was between 2003 and 2008. The Netherlands saw a relatively lower increase than the EU.
In 2015 there were over 60 thousand family migrants of whom half were from EU countries. Of those aged 20 and up, 40% were in work one year after their arrival. This was still 37% in 2005.
Slightly more people died during the heatwaves in the summer of 2018 than an average week in summer.
The population of the Netherlands grew by more than 32 thousand in the first six months of 2018. This is slightly less than in the same period last year, when 35 thousand residents were added on balance.
The number of asylum seekers and following family members from Turkey rose from 185 to 330 between Q1 and Q2 2018. They represented the third largest group, after Syrians and Eritreans.
A mixed-integer programming formulation is presented of automatic error localisation with general edit operations.
National statistical institutes should adopt formal quality certification, e.g. ISO or EFQM.
In 2017, 1,917 people took their own lives, i.e. 23 more than in 2016.
In 2017, the Netherlands welcomed more than 2,265 invited refugees. Many of these refugees were able to settle in the Netherlands as part of the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016.
Connecting correction methods for linkage error in capture-recapture
In 2017, 64.4 thousand marriages were contracted and 17.9 thousand civil partnerships were registered in the Netherlands.
In 2017, more cyclists than car occupants died in traffic accidents, of whom 1/4 on an e-bike.
On 1 January 2017, the population of Bonaire was made up of 19.2 thousand residents. More than 7 thousand were native Bonairians.
Connecting correction methods for linkage error in capture-recapture.
The Netherlands saw net population growth in Q1 2018 at 12.5 thousand. Natural growth (births minus deaths) was negative, net migration positive.
In Q1 2018, 4.2 thousand asylum seekers and 2.1 thousand following family members were registered in the Netherlands.
Out of the asylum seekers who obtained a residence permit in 2014, 11 percent were in work after 30 months; 84 percent of status holders were benefit recipients.
In 2017, 77 percent of Dutch adults felt that the Netherlands should admit war refugees.
On 1 Jan 2018, the IJsselmeerpolders had 404,000 inhabitants.
Life expectancy without physical limitations and in good self-perceived health is projected to rise until 2040.
Second measurement of the Netherlands' progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals
So far, this winter (2017/’18) has seen fewer deaths than the same period last year.
More weddings on Valentine's Day than on other days in February, but the most popular wedding dates are in summer.
Mainly young women are postponing motherhood. The number of births was again low in 2017.
The Netherlands received 16,145 first asylum requests in 2017; 14,490 following family members arrived
The population of the Netherlands again saw relatively strong growth in 2017.
Cancer has been the main cause of death among men for years, since 2016 also among women
The latest population forecast: 18.4 million inhabitants in 2060
Of the 42,500 British citizens residing in the Netherlands, 43% were employed earners, 9% were self-employed
A resample method to compute standard errors of estimates based on a structural time series model.
The number of teenage mothers has dropped to 3 per one thousand girls. This is low, also internationally.
The number of inhabitants in Amsterdam is growing, mainly due to foreign migration
The life expectancy of people aged 65 is increasing. According to the CBS forecast, this will be 20.5 years by 2023.
The population grew by over 80 thousand in the first three quarters of 2017, mainly due to foreign migration.
The Netherlands received 4.4 thousand asylum seekers and 2.3 thousand following relatives in Q3 2017.
Capture-recapture methods and violation of the assumptions of perfect linkage and no erroneous captures
Registered partnership has become popular, but 80 percent of unions were marriages in 2016.
Increasingly fewer babies are born on a Sunday, and death rates are slightly lower on weekend days as well.
Netherlands, 1st half of 2017: 100 thousand immigrants, 69 thousand emigrants, 82 thousand births, 78 thousand deaths
Family reunion is still the main reason for migration, but labour and asylum are rising.
In 2017, more following family members than asylum seekers from Eritrea arrived in the Netherlands.
Many Syrians and Eritreans have a residence permit and housing, but most depend on social welfare.
Number of suicides has risen in recent years, but related to population and composition has been the same since 2013
On 1 January 2017, there were around 4.1 million fathers versus 4.8 million mothers in the Netherlands.
Linkage of data sets with different unit types
CBS and the city of Venlo are collaborating in the collection of regional and local data.
There are nearly 5 million mothers. Half of them have two children and one-fifth have one child or three children.
The population of the Netherlands grew by 19 thousand in Q1 2017.
In Jan-Mar 2017, 4 thousand asylum seekers and 5.3 thousand following family members arrived in the Netherlands.
In 2016, one in five underage asylum seekers travelled unaccompanied. The majority came from Eritrea.
The lowest share of single mothers is seen in higher educated women.
Estimating educational attainment levels for the Dutch Virtual Census
There were fewer asylum applicants and following relatives of asylum statusholders in January 2017.
Around 13 million Dutch residents will be entitled to vote in the general election on 15 March 2017.
In 2014 en 2015, the Bulgarian and Romanian migrant population in the Netherlands increased.
Over half of young asylum seekers in 2016 were from Syria.
The Netherlands had nearly 17.1 million inhabitants on 1 Januari 2017, over 110 thousand up from 1 January 2016.
Population forecast intervals obtained from 6 variants using a new technique are compared to stochastic forecasting.
Mixed relationships show strong variations according to migration background
Surveys differ in their topics, language, style and design, and, consequently, in their sensitivity to measurement error.
Saba's population grew by 6 percent between 2011 and 2015 to 1.9 thousand residents.
The population of Bonaire grew by over 20 percent between 2011 and 2016 to 19.4 thousand residents.
On 1 January 2016, St Eustatius had 3.2 thousand inhabitants.
November had more asylum requests by relatives and slightly fewer first-time applications than in October.
95 percent of inhabitants holds Dutch citizenship. In 2015, 22 thousand residents were naturalised to Dutch citizens.
CBS, Heerlen start Urban Data Center
The Annual Report on Integration 2016 gives an overview of various population groups with a migrant background.
3.5 thousand asylum seekers and relatives registered in October of whom 390 from Morocco and 270 from Algeria.
Consistent estimation of a set coherent frequency tables
In the period 2011-2015, the number emigrants from the Netherlands to the UK has risen from 8.2 to 10.5 thousand.
In September 2016 more than 3 thousand asylum seekers and following relatives arrived in the Netherlands.
The share of women aged 35 and older who give birth has increased further since 2000.
The purchasing power of the Dutch population improved 1.1 percent last year.
In August this year 2,385 asylum seekers and following relatives were registered in the Netherlands.
On 1 January 2016, there were over 7.7 million households in the Netherlands.
On 1 January 2016 the population of the Caribbean Netherlands totalled 24,548 inhabitants.
Last year nearly 13 thousand partnerships were signed, i.e. 2.5 thousand more than in 2014.
Immigration from Syria has risen since the end of 2015.
Compared to other EU countries, a large part of the Dutch population increase is due to natural growth.
In March this year 1,675 individuals were registered as asylum seekers or family members
The number of teen mums in the Netherlands is relatively low.
More lesbian than gay couples decide to break up.
A total of 29 thousand Syrians registered as residents of a Dutch municipality in 2014 and 2015. Syrian immigrants are young compared to other recent immigrants in the Netherlands and they often live in a family setting. Nearly 40 percent of recently registered Syrians are under the age of 18, versus only 17 percent among other groups of foreign immigrants. Nearly one-quarter of Eritreans are underage and only 5 percent of Ethiopians.
On the basis of provisional population data over 2015, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports that the Dutch population increased by 79 thousand to 16.9 million residents. Last year’s population growth was fuelled by a net migration gain of 56 thousand.
Male life expectancy at birth for boys in the Netherlands was 79.9 years (2014). Male life expectancy is marginally higher in Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. Dutch girls have 83.3 years ahead of them. Their life expectancy is below the average level for European girls.
Nearly half of all Dutch people of Surinamese origin were also born in the Netherlands. These are primarily the children of Surinamese people who migrated to the Netherlands in the 1970s.
In the first nine months of 2015, fewer babies were born than in the same period last year. After a brief rise in 2014, the birth rate is falling again.
In more than half of Dutch families, parenting tasks are shared equally between the father and the mother. However, when only one of the parents takes on these tasks it is usually the mother, even if both the father and the mother work equally long hours in paid jobs.
8 percent of Dutch people in a relationship are not cohabiting. A quarter of these people wants their relationship to remain this way in the future. Why?
A total of 1.3 million Dutch residents hold more than one nationality, as the most recent survey conducted on 1 January 2014 shows. Since then, non-Dutch nationalities are no longer registered. Last year, 27 thousand people acquired the Dutch nationality.
Last year, the number of citizens from Central and Eastern Europe in the Netherlands increased from 160 thousand to 177 thousand. Another 75 thousand CEE citizens are estimated to work in the Netherlands on temporary employment contracts.
Just over one in ten households in the Caribbean Netherlands comprise relatives in addition to the nuclear family. These extended families in one household are rare in the Netherlands. Nearly half of Caribbean households consist of one person. These are some of the results of household statistics for the Caribbean Netherlands.
During the last winter period, mortality was higher than in the winter of 2013/’14. Mortality among over-80s was distinctly higher, also in comparison to previous winters.
Nearly four out of ten children born in 2012 in the Caribbean Netherlands > were born to into a single parent household, usually a single mother. The same is true for live-born children in the Netherlands to a mother of Antillean/Aruban origin.
Nearly 15 percent of all underage children in the Netherlands lived in a one-parent family in 2014. Families within which children grow up have changed in the last fifteen years. More 0-17-year-olds live in a one-parent family and an ever increasing number have unmarried parents.
Early 2013, more than 25 thousand people in the Netherlands were homeless; 39 percent of homeless are living in Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam. One in five homeless are women. Homeless women are relatively often aged between 18 and 30 and living in one of the 4 major cities.
The annual gender ratio at birth for the Netherlands is 105 boys to every 100 girls. This ‘male surplus’ is still reflected in young adults: there are more 20 to 24-year-old men than women in the Netherlands, but a different situation occurs in the four major Dutch cities, where young women constituted the majority in 2014. Statistics Netherlands announced today that the gender ratio in the municipality of Utrecht is 138 young women to every 100 young men.
The population growth rate in the Netherlands has risen again in 2014. The population grew by nearly 73 thousand last year. Immigration increased further to a record high of 181 thousand. Emigration remained more or less stable. The number of live births increased for the first time in half a decade.
Part of the people living alone are not single: over twenty percent of adult people and parents living alone are engaged in LAT. LAT relationships are more common among younger than among older people. In most cases, they see LAT as a stage on the way to possible cohabitation or marriage. Older people living alone, mainly women, appear to be less keen to marry or live together with their LAT partner.
According to the population forecast published today, the Dutch population will continue to grow in the coming decades, to 18.1 million inhabitants in 2060.
Under the coalition agreement of the present Dutch cabinet, from 2022 onwards the entitlement age for state old-age pension will be linked to the increase in life expectancy.
In 2013, 1,854 people in the Netherlands ended their own lives, 101 more than in 2012. This is the sixth year in a row that the number of suicides has increased. In spite of this, the suicide rate is considerably lower in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries.
Young people with non-western background still lagging behind in socio-economic terms compared to their native Dutch counterpartsIn socio-economic terms.
Population censuses have a centuries-long tradition.
On 1 October 2014, there were nearly 2.2 thousand people in the Netherlands aged 100 years or older, i.e. more than twice as many as on 1 January 2000. The number of centenarians is likely to have doubled again in 2025.
According to Statistics Netherlands’ population forecast, the number of teenagers in the Netherlands will decrease by 160 thousand in the next ten years. This would mean that just under 1.9 million 10-19 year-olds will be living in the Netherlands in 2025.
Although Dutch people are living to older ages, they are no longer doing so in perfect health. The number of years they have to cope with a physical disability is increasing. These are mostly minor limitations, such as hearing, visual and mobility problems. The number of years people live with more serious disabilities is not increasing.
In secondary education, boys and girls usually comply the type of education that is consistent with the outcome of the Cito test, but after three years, many boys have moved down to a lower level of education, whereas girls often attend a higher type of education. Boys from low-educated families often perform less well at school than might be expected on the basis of their Cito test results.
2019 will be the first year in which half the Dutch adult population will be older than 50 years. In many Dutch municipalities more than half of the population are already over 50.
More people came from abroad to live in the Netherlands in the first of this year than in the same period last year. Over 76 thousand immigrants arrived in the Netherlands, 8.6 thousand more than in 2013.
The number of over-40s with at least one parent still alive has risen tremendously over the past decade. Despite the increase, the number of households where adult children are living together with their parents has not grown.
If the trend observed in the past three decades with respect to mortality and health is to continue, the age until which people in the Netherlands are free from physical limitations in mobility, sight and hearing will rise further. People’s healthy life expectancy will also increase.
The internet is widely used as a means to find a steady relationship. More than 13 percent of couples who started living together in the past half decade met on the internet. Older and divorced people in particular frequently use the internet to find a partner.
The use of the contraceptive pill has been high in the Netherlands for many years. In 2013 - just like a decade ago - two-thirds of women in the age category 18-44 were using a method to prevent them from becoming pregnant in 2013. Although the majority take the pill, the use has diminished and the IUD (intra-uterine device) is gaining popularity.
In the first quarter of 2014, 35 thousand people died, 4.6 thousand fewer than in the first quarter of 2013 and 2.6 thousand fewer than in the first quarter of 2012.
Today, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment have released figures on traffic mortality. Last year, 570 people died in traffic accidents in the Netherlands, a reduction by 80 relative to 2012.
In 2013, the population in the Netherlands grew by 50 thousand. The bulk of the population growth (47 thousand) was recorded in the thirty largest Dutch municipalities. The population continues to grow in the four major cities.
In recent years, the proportion of women who become mothers at the age of 30 has risen, whereas the proportion of low-educated women who become mothers at the age of 30 has in fact declined.
The Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba) have been part of the Netherlands since 10 October 2010. Statistics Netherlands presents statistics on the Caribbean Netherlands separately, and does not integrate them with existing statistics. Thisarticle describes the method and results of life expectancy calculations for the Caribbean Netherlands. As – because of the relatively small population - the standard life expectancy calculation method is not suitable for the Caribbean Netherlands, the method was adjusted.
Fewer than 74 thousand marriages and partnership registrations took place in the Netherlands in 2013. This 6 thousand down on 2012. The decrease was completely accounted for by the fall in the number of marriages: the number of civil partnerships rose from 9.2 thousand to 10 thousand.
The population of the Netherlands includes 3.5 million underage children. One in seven of these children live with just one parent. This proportion varies strongly between municipalities.
At the end of this year, the number of children in the Netherlands in the primary school age range - between 4 and 12 years - will be 1.52 million, 75 thousand fewer than five years ago. In the next eight years the number is expected to decrease by a further 96 thousand.
The suicide rate has grown dramatically over the past five years, in particular among people with a western background and native Dutch. The suicide rate remained stable at a low level among people with a non-western background. Suicide is rare among people with a Turkish or Moroccan background.
On 1 January 2013, the Caribbean Netherlands was home to more than 23 thousand people. Since 1 January 2010, the population has grown by 2.4 thousand. Immigrants almost entirely account for the population growth.
Last year, 2.2 thousand girls under the age of 20 gave birth, i.e. less than 1.5 percent of all births registered in the Netherlands. The number of teenage births has never been this low. Teenage births still frequently occur among Antillean and Surinamese girls.
According to the new regional population and household forecast released today by the Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Dutch population will grow by approximately 650 thousand to 17.4 million between 2012 and 2025. The 27 large municipalities with a population of 100 thousand or more in 2012 account for nearly three quarters of the population growth. Together, the four major cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht account for one third of population growth until 2025, but the population is anticipated to decline in rural areas on the fringes of the Netherlands.
The number of people who die from melanoma, a frequent type of skin cancer has increased significantly in the Netherlands, in particular among over-60s. In the European Union, the Netherlands is among the countries with the highest melanoma mortality.
Nearly six in ten deaths are caused by cancer or cardiovascular diseases. Cancer has been the main cause of death in the male population for many years now. Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death for women.
The population in the Netherlands has grown less rapidly over the past six months than in the same period last year.
By the end of 2011, there were 34 thousand underage children who had lost one of their parents and 330 who had lost both parents. Each year, more than 6 thousand underage children are (semi-)orphaned.
The birth rate has declined further to 172 thousand between June 2012 and May 2013, i.e. a decrease by 6.4 thousand relative to the same period one year previously.
Croatia will be joining the European Union as its 28th member country on 1 July 2013. The Netherlands counts around 5,900 Croats among its residents. Most of them arrived between 1990 and 2001 when Yugoslavia disintegrated and civil war broke out in the region.
Last year, male and female life expectancy were virtually the same as in 2011, but life expectancy is anticipated to increase further over the years to come.
Until 2025, the number of households in the Netherlands will grow by 630 thousand to 8.2 million, as the household survey conducted by Statistics Netherlands shows. The annual increase by 50 thousand is just below the level of the past twelve years.
Children of couples who married young often start living together when they are young. Children of divorced couples also start living together at a younger age.
More than 78 thousand marriages and partnerships were registered in the Netherlands last year. The number of marriages and partnerships has fallen after 2010. Friday is still the most popular day to marry, but Monday is becoming increasingly popular.
1,940 Dutch residents – mainly women – are one hundred years or older.
In the four major cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), the number of 0 to 5-year old children is growing, while in the rest of the Netherlands the number of young children is diminishing.
Nearly 16.8 million people were living in the Netherlands on 1 January 2013, an increase by 48 thousand relative to one year previously. On balance, 13 thousand people from abroad settled in the Netherlands in 2012, i.e. 17 thousand fewer than in 2011.
On 1 January last year, 65 thousand Soviet Union nationals were living in the Netherlands. Among them were 16 thousand children born in the Netherlands. Another 49 thousand Soviet citizens are immigrants. Two thirds of these immigrants have settled in the Netherlands in or after 2000.
These and other facts are presented in De Nederlandse Samenleving 2012, Statistics Netherlands’ report on society in the Netherlands (available in Dutch only). The book gives a picture of prosperity and well-being in the Netherlands today, including differences between population groups and regions.
With the proposed raising of the age at which people are entitled to General Old Age Pension (AOW), the number of people aged over 65 in the potential labour force will reach 0.8 million in 2040.
In 2011 one of the partners moved to the Netherlands to get married in over 8 percent of the marriages involving people with a foreign background. This is slightly less than in the two years before and far less than in 2002.
In 2011 the average age of divorcing men in the Netherlands was nearly 46 years at the time of divorce. In 1991 this was still only 40 years.
On 1 January 2010, the total potential labour force in the 27 countries of the European Union numbered 307 million persons. This is 61 percent of the total population of the EU and is 20 million higher than in 1995. On the basis of Eurostat’s EUROPOP2010 population scenarios, the potential labour force is expected to fall to 265 million in 2060, 14 percent down on 2010.
The life expectancies at birth for Dutch men and women were 79.2 and 82.9 years respectively in 2011. Male life expectancy has improved rapidly and as a result, the life expectancy gender gap has narrowed considerably.
Last year, 1,647 Dutch residents committed suicide, an increase by 47 relative to 2010.
2365 girls under 20 years of age gave birth in 2011. Fewer than 5 in a thousand teenage girls became mothers in 2011. This is the lowest figure ever observed by Statistics Netherlands.
Population of the Netherlands rose by 14.7 thousand people in the first half of 2012. This is half the increase in the same period last year.
The projected number of over-65s will exceed 3.8 million in 2025. If no action is taken, the number of people entitled to the state old age pension (AOW) in the Netherlands would grow by 1.1 million relative to 1 January 2012. The bill passed by the Dutch Upper Chamber on 10 July will reduce the number of AOW benefits by more than half a million.
Immigration from Eastern Europe remains high. Last year, for example, nearly 19 thousand Polish immigrants came to the Netherlands, i.e. twice as many as in 2007. The immigration flow is also high from a historical point of view.
In the last decade the population of Bonaire has grown by almost 50 percent. In the preceding thirty years, the increase of 10 percent per decade was much smaller. The population growth is mainly the result of immigration. Immigrants have preferences for certain neighbourhoods. This article examines the composition of the population by districts and neighbourhoods. It describes size, growth and country of birth. It also gives the history of the districts.
The composition of families in the Netherlands has changed in the last ten years. More parents are not married and there are fewer large families.
On 1 January last year, 265 thousand couples living in the Netherlands consisted of a partner born in the Netherlands and a foreign partner. Their number has grown by 22 thousand over the past decade. The most remarkable increase was recorded in the number of Dutchmen living with Thai or Russian women, which doubled.
Some 2.4 million babies were born in the Netherlands in the period 1946–1955. Although births also peaked in other countries in western Europe after the war, until the mid 1950s the Dutch birth rate was the highest in the region.
On 1 January last year, there were 1.2 million people in the Netherlands with at least one other nationality in addition to the Dutch nationality, an increase by 40 thousand relative to 1 January 2010.
Nearly 1.5 million people moved house in 2011, almost as many as in 2010. The number of people who moved house in the last six months of 2011 grew marginally relative to the same period in 2010.
On 1 January 2012, the population of the Netherlands totalled more than 16.7 million persons, an increase by 70 thousand from 1 January 2011.
The proportion of 0 to 15-year-old children living with both their own parents declined from 86 percent in 1996 to 82 percent in 2010.
Dutch people who emigrate between the ages of 50 and 70 are on average richer than their peers who stayed in the Netherlands.
The majority of the Dutch population trust their fellow citizens, politics, the police and the legal system. Confidence has grown over the period 2002-2010.
On 1 January 2012, the Netherlands had a population in excess of 16.7 million. On balance, the population growth in 2011 was 72 thousand, i.e. 9 thousand fewer than in 2010.
The majority of the Dutch Caribbean population were born on one of the islands in the former Netherlands Antilles. In most cases, they were born on the island where they currently live or on an adjacent island.
The Dutch Caribbean population comprises more than 21 thousand people, i.e. 15.7 thousand on Bonaire, 3.6 thousand on St Eustatius and 1.8 thousand on Saba.
In 2016, the projected population of the Netherlands will reach 17 million.
In regions where the population has shrunk over the period 2005-2008, people’s socio-economic conditions have worsened.
Parts of the provinces of Groningen, Zeeland and Limburg have been declared areas of decline by the Dutch central government. Municipalities there with declining populations will be eligible for compensation by central government if they meet certain criteria.
On 31 December 2009, there were 900 transsexuals in the Netherlands; 850 of them were included in the 15-65 age category (potential labour force).
Dutch municipal authorities report 65 thousand persons as missing on an annual basis.
In 2010 some 34.5 thousand citizens with a foreign background married in the Netherlands. A quarter of these newly weds had a Turkish or Moroccan background.
The population in the Randstad region continues its unabated growth. Between 2010 and 2015, the population in the four Randstad provinces will increase by an expected 700 thousand, and the number of households will rise by more than 400 thousand.
More and more Dutch couples are meeting via the internet or at work, while fewer people met on an evening out or on holiday in the last ten years.
The number of fathers over the age of 40 at childbirth is growing.
The population of The Hague is anticipated to surpass the 500 thousand mark in September this year, having grown by nearly 60 thousand since the turn of the century. The proportion of young residents under the age of 20 has increased markedly and at the same time, the proportion of over-65s has declined.
Last year, 672 children were adopted by Dutch parents, approximately as many as in 2009, but considerably fewer than in record year 2004, when 1,378 children were adopted.
In the first six months of 2011, more than 58 thousand people left the Netherlands, i.e. nearly 5 thousand more than in the same period last year.
Early 2011, nearly 200 thousand people from Central and Eastern Europe had registered as residents or workers in the Netherlands. Their number has more than doubled over the past five years.
Although the number of elderly people in the Netherlands is growing rapidly, the number of them living in care and nursing homes is decreasing.
The population in Dutch cities has grown notably in recent years. The population growth rate is particularly high in the three major cities in the Netherlands.
In the past three years, the number of young families in the Netherlands has increased. The number of first-time mothers has risen from 82 thousand in 2008 to nearly 86 thousand in 2010.
During the first decade of the 21st century, the relative population growth in the Netherlands was higher than in the European Union as a whole. In no other country in the EU 27, the contribution of migration to population growth was so small as in the Netherlands.
One in five 18 to 64 year-old men in the Netherlands lived alone in 2010. For women this was just over one in six.
Last year, one in ten women who married for the first time were over the age of 40 versus one in hundred in 1980. As more and more couples live together before they marry, the marriage date is more often postponed.
The number of multiple births has been in decline in the Netherlands since 2003. In recent years, usually only 1 egg cell is replaced in the uterus during in vitro fertilisation, resulting in a considerable reduction in twin births.
More children living at home have older parents. Nearly one in three parents with children living at home were in their fifties in 2010.
The number of households in the Netherlands is expected to grow fast over the next few decades.
Nearly 10 thousand partnerships were registered in 2010 versus more than 2 thousand in 2001. Since 2001, the number of registered partnerships has risen continually.
Forty years ago to the day, on 27 February 1971, the first abortion clinic opened its doors in the Netherlands. Approximately 28 thousand abortions are carried out on women living in the Netherlands every year.
Labour participation and economic independence of women increase in spite of crisis.
On 1 January 2011, the population of the Netherlands stood at 16.7 million, i.e. 80 thousand more than one year previously. In 2010, the previous immigration record of 2009 was marginally exceeded, but emigration increased faster.
The risk of dying from cancer is declining. The risk for men and women to die from cancer dropped by 14 and 5 percent respectively in 2010 relative to 2000, but the cancer death toll has increased due to population growth and demographic ageing.
In the period 2005–2010, the Dutch population grew by 269 thousand, i.e. 1.6 percent.
Nearly one in every ten live-born babies were born to single mothers last year. Nine in ten were born to couples living together.
Last year, 13 thousand Poles came to the Netherlands versus 14 thousand in 2008.
The rate of the demographic ageing process in the Netherlands will double in the years to come. In the period 2011-2015, the over-65 population will grow by half a million versus a quarter of a million in the period 2006-2010.
Nearly 23 thousand people received the Dutch nationality through naturalisation in 2009.
In 2009, 2,636 babies were born in the Netherlands to mothers younger than 20 years. This makes the Dutch teenage birth rate one of the lowest in the world.
Early 2009, more than 17.5 thousand people aged between 18 and 65 were homeless in the Netherlands, i.e. 17 in every 10 thousand residents in this age group.
Last year, 30 thousand people with a non-western background got married in the Netherlands. In 9 percent of cases, the partners came to the Netherlands to marry.
A total of 1,525 people committed suicide in the Netherlands last year.
The second generation, born in the Netherlands, is starting to become the face of the population with a non-western background in Dutch society
The number of couples celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary reached a record high in 2010. This is related to the peak in marriages around 1970.
One in six couples who married around 1970 were divorced 20 years later. The ratio for couples married in the early 1990s will be one in four.
Since 10 October 2010, the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Saba and Saint Eustatius have officially acquired the status of Dutch municipalities. As a result, 18 thousand new citizens were added to the Dutch population.
Early this year 1,743 Dutch residents were one hundred years of age or older, an increase in absolute figures by 115 relative to 2009. For the first time in years, there was an increase in male centenarians.
A majority in the Dutch population have confidence in their fellow men and in various national and international institutions. The Netherlands takes up a prominent position in Europe in this respect.
The population of the Netherlands increased by 83 thousand persons from mid 2009 to mid 2010.
During the recent period of high temperatures, which ran almost uninterruptedly from 23 June to Monday 12 July, an estimated 500 extra lives were lost above the average for this time of year.
An increasing percentage of young adults return to live with their parents for a time after having left home. The main reasons for this increase in the number of ‘boomerang children’ are relationship break-ups and completed or interrupted education.
Relatively more men born in the period 1945-1964 are childless than women of the same generation. In addition, those who do have children are three years older on average than women born in the same period.
Post-war baby boomers are relatively wealthy. Households, in which the main breadwinner is aged between 50 and 65, are relatively often found in the highest income brackets and more often than people in other income groups, they have accumulated a large personal fortune.
The proportion of car drivers in fatal road accidents is higher in the 18–25 age category than among over-25s. Young drivers also more often crash into trees, crash barriers or posts.
In recent years, fewer children were adopted in the Netherlands. Over the period 2004-2008, the number of adoptions was almost reduced by half.
Last year, 28 thousand native Dutch left the Netherlands to settle elsewhere, i.e. 9 thousand fewer than in record year 2006. The most popular destinations were Belgium and Germany.
On 1 January last year, 820 unmarried couples were living together in the Netherlands. More than half had cohabitation agreements.
In 2009, emigration decreased and immigration increased. The net population growth was 92 thousand, an increase by just over 10 thousand relative to 2008.
In 2008, the average, first-generation, non-western woman was more than one year older when she had her first child than in 1996. The average age for native Dutch women to become first-time mothers rose by nearly six months over the same period.
Life expectancy for girls born in the Netherlands in 2008 was 82.3 years, 4 years higher than for boys (78.3 years). Since 1980, the life expectancy gender gap has narrowed.
Four years after their separation, half of divorced men have remarried or live together with new partners. Divorced women are much more often living alone four years later.
Some 30 thousand Dutch couples separated by using the flash divorce procedure in the period 2001-2009. The highest numbers of flash divorces were recorded in the years from 2003 to 2005, when around 5 thousand couples annually separated using this procedure.
The average life expectancy of people living in households with incomes below the poverty line is approximately 5 years shorter than the life expectancy of higher incomes. The healthy life expectancy of higher incomes is no less than 14 years longer.
The Dutch population is estimated to grow by 86 thousand in 2009. The increase exceeds last year’s population growth by 5.5 thousand.
On 1 January 2009, just over 1.1 million people in the Netherlands had at least one other nationality alongside the Dutch nationality. This is nearly three times the number on 1 January 1995.
On 1 January 2008 there were over 70 thousand refugees living in the Netherlands.
In the first nine months of 2009 there were fewer marriages than the year before. In 2009 as a whole there will be about 72 thousand marriages, 3.5 thousand less than in 2008. This decrease has to do with the economic downturn.
On 1 January 2009, a quarter of a million people from eastern Europe had settled in the Netherlands, nearly four times as many as during the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, twenty years ago to the day.
The decrease in the number of marriage migration came to an end in 2008. Just as in 2007, 8 percent of people in the Netherlands with a foreign background who married, did so with a partner who migrated from their own country of origin.
In some parts of the Netherlands, especially in the periphery of the country, the population will decrease substantially in the next thirty years. In one quarter of Dutch municipalities the number of inhabitants will fall by more than 2.5 percent by 2040; a total of one quarter of a million inhabitants.
Some 700 thousand people in the Netherlands say they have plans to live abroad for a period of at least eight months.
Many older people no longer live in their native region. Over-55s, notably those born in the south and east part of the Netherlands, tend to return to their native region later in life.
In the second quarter of 2009, the relocation rate declined by 10 percent relative to one year previously.
Last year, 176 persons died as a result of murder or manslaughter, 12 more than in 2007. The increase entirely consists of men. The number of women killed as a result of murder or manslaughter has declined over the past three years.
The number of one-person households will have mounted up to 3.6 million in 2050, an increase by 1 million compared to the current situation. Over the next two decades, the annual increase will be 30 to 40 thousand.
The population group in the Netherlands with a non-western foreign background will age strongly in the next few decades. According to Statistics Netherlands’ latest forecast of the foreign population in the Netherlands, the number of over-65s with a non-western foreign background will increase from just under 70 thousand today to more than 520 thousand in 2050.
The number of people moving house in the Netherlands was 45 thousand lower in the first four months of 2009 than in the same period last year.
The number of requests for asylum submitted in the Netherlands in 2008 nearly doubled compared to 2007. The increase is much more substantial than in the European Union (EU) as a whole, where the number of asylum requests rose by 6 percent.
The number of over-65s is expected to rise from 2.5 million in 2009 to 4.2 million in 2050.
Nearly 7 in 10 women aged between 18 and 45 used contraceptives last year; 40 percent took the oral contraceptive pill, as against nearly 50 percent in 1998.
Three people born in the nineteenth century are currently still alive. They belong to the exclusive yet rapidly growing group of centenarians in the Netherlands.
One in five people who marry nowadays have been married before.
In 2008, net population growth in the Netherlands was more than 81 thousand, i.e. 34 thousand more than in 2007.
In 2001, immigration from the former Soviet republics reached a record level, when more than 6 thousand people came to the Netherlands. Since 2004, immigration is stable at approximately 3 thousand a year. Most immigrants come from the Caucasus region, e.g. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
In 2007, some 80 thousand non-Dutch immigrants entered the Netherlands. Finding a job was the main motive.
Net population growth in the Netherlands numbered 76 thousand people in 2008, nearly 30 thousand more than in 2007.
Multiple births accounted for 3,062 babies born in the Netherlands in 2007. This is down from 3,762 in 2002. Fewer twins in particular are being born. The fall in the number of twin births is connected with developments in in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Over one million more people are expected to be living in the Netherlands in thirty years’ time. According to Statistics Netherlands latest national population forecast, the population will grow from 16.5 million today to 17.5 million, and then start to decrease again.
On 1 January 2008, there were 1.08 million people in the Netherlands with at least one foreign nationality, i.e. nearly three times as many as on 1 January 1995. Nearly half of them also have the Turkish or Moroccan nationality.
In the first nine months of this year, 140 thousand children were born, nearly 3 thousand more than in the same period last year.
In 2007, well over 26 thousand people with a foreign background got married.
More than 31 thousand Americans were living in the Netherlands op 1 January 2008. Many more Dutch people live in the United States: according to the US Bureau of the Census, over 100 thousand Dutch people lived there in 2001.
As more married and unmarried couples with children decide to split up, the number of single parents in the Netherlands continues to grow.
In the first six months of 2008, the population increased by nearly 30 thousand, because more people arrived in the Netherlands than left the country.
Last year, female life expectancy at birth was 82.3 years, as against 78.0 years for men. Life expectancy has risen dramatically since 2002.
Last year, 40 percent of all children in the Netherlands were born to unmarried mothers, i.e. half of all first-born children.
In 2025, there will be 8 million households in the Netherlands, an increase by 800 thousand relative to early 2007.
Higher educated women become mothers later in life than women educated at secondary or lower level.
Dutch judges pronounced 32.6 thousand divorces in 2007. A total of 34.7 thousand underage children were involved in these divorces.
Although most children in the Netherlands grow up with two parents, one in seven children experience the divorce of their parents. After a divorce, the contact between children and their fathers deteriorates.
The drowning rate is higher among children from non-western countries who recently immigrated to the Netherlands than among native Dutch children.
The number of families with four or more children living at home has dropped dramatically over the past decade. The decline was more substantial among families with a non-western background than among native Dutch families.
Nearly 32 thousand people immigrated to the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2008, nearly 6 thousand more than twelve months previously.
On 1 January 2004, there were 770 thousand people in the Netherlands who were born in Rotterdam. Four in ten natives of Rotterdam (302 thousand) are still living in the town where they were born, so the majority of them live elsewhere.
In 2007, more than half of the Dutch population indicated that dog droppings, street litter, vandalised bus and tram shelters and graffiti on walls and buildings were a major source of annoyance.
Just over 76 thousand first and second generation former Yugoslavs were living in the Netherlands on 1 January 2008. An estimated 11 percent of these, some 8.5 thousand, can be counted as Kosovars.
In 2007, just over 123 thousand emigrants left the Netherlands, 9 thousand fewer than in 2006. For the first time since 2000, the upward trend was abandoned.
On 1 January 2008, the Dutch population totalled 16.4 millon.
In recent years, the number of men in their 40s who become fathers has continually grown. In 2006, about 24 thousand babies were born whose fathers were in their 40s, i.e. 14 percent of all babies born in 2006, as against 9 percent a decade ago.
Immigration has risen further in the third quarter.
In the first six months of 2007, the number of people living in the Netherlands grew by nearly 15 thousand.
Immigration increased over the past quarter, in particular immigrants from the new EU member states Bulgaria and Romania came to the Netherlands.
After continuous growth over the past century, the potential labour force is about to decline. On 1 January 2007, there were 10 million Dutch residents in the 20–65 age bracket.
The greying of the population will reach its peak in just over 30 years.
The number of emigrants is continually growing. In the first nine months of 2006, nearly 100 thousand people left the Netherlands to settle elsewhere.
The population of the Netherlands grew by fewer than 2 thousand people in the first half of 2006. In the same period last year, the increase was still as many as 7 thousand.
Over the next two decades the number of inhabitants in the Netherlands is expected to increase by 600 thousand, bringing the total to 16.9 million. The growth areas will be primarily in the provinces North and South Holland and Flevoland. The current decrease in the number of inhabitants in Limburg is expected to continue.
Over 22 thousand immigrants took up residence in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2006. This is almost 2 thousand more than in the same period of 2005.
With only 30 thousand, the population increase in the Netherlands in 2005 was the lowest since 1900. On 1 January 2006, the population stood at 16.34 million.
142 thousand children were born during the first nine months of 2005. Since this is 4 thousand less than in the same period of 2004, Dutch population growth is slowing down.
The population counter shows how many registered inhabitants there are in the Netherlands at this moment according to the most recent estimate of Statistics Netherlands.
With an increase of just under 8 thousand, the population growth in the first six months of 2005 reached a historically low level. In the same period 54 thousand persons left the Netherlands.
In the first quarter of 2005 the population of the Netherlands grew by nearly 5 thousand. The population growth remains very moderate due to the low birth rate and the high mortality rate.
The Netherlands had a population of 16.3 million on 1 January 2005. In 2004 the population increased by just 34 thousand. In 2003 the increase was twice as high. Such a low growth rate has not been observed since 1920. This development is mainly due to a further decrease in immigration and an increase in emigration.
Most recent population forecast the Dutch population will not exceed 17.0 million in 2035. Subsequently, decline will set in. At present, there are 16.3 million people living in the Netherlands. In the short run, the growth of the population will remain low because emigrants will outnumber immigrants. In the long run, ageing of the population will cause it to decline. The share of non-western foreigners will increase from 10 percent in 2004 to 17 percent in 2050. The share of over-65s will grow from 14 percent in 2004 to a maximum of 24 percent around 2040.
In the third quarter of 2004 the Dutch population grew by almost 14 thousand, as against more than 20 thousand in the same period last year.
In the first six months of 2004 emigrants from the Netherlands outnumbered immigrants by 13 thousand, the largest net emigration since the 1950s. The main cause for the emigration surplus is a considerable decrease in immigration.
The Dutch population grew by 10 thousand in the first quarter of 2003. This is the lowest growth rate in over twenty years. The low growth was caused by a noticeable drop in the number of births and a further decrease in immigration. In the first quarter of 2004 emigration was higher than immigration.
The Dutch population numbered 16.3 million people on 1 January 2004, bringing population growth in 2003 to 62 thousand. This is the lowest rate of population growth in twenty years. The decrease in the population growth rate was mainly caused by a fall in immigration and an increase in emigration.
Dossier page on socialisation and participation in society of migrants