The Netherlands is the 69th most populous country in the world. As of January 2023, the Netherlands has a population of 17,821,419.[1]
Between 1900 and 1950 the population almost doubled from 5.14 to 10.11 million people. From 1950 to 2000 the population increased from 10.11 to 15.92 million people, increasing by a smaller proportion but, still, at an impressive pace for a European country, recording a growth of 57.45% over a 50-year time span.[2]
Of countries with at least 7.5 million people, The Netherlands is the 4th most densely populated, and is the 33rd most densely populated in the world overall. It is the 5th most densely populated country in Europe; the first four are microstates. The 17,821,419 million Dutch inhabitants are concentrated on an area of 41,543km2 (16,040sqmi) including water surface, the land surface being 33,895km2 (13,087sqmi). This means that the country has a population density of 526/km2 (1,360/sqmi). The density of 500 inhabitants/km2 was reached in the first half of 2014.
As a result of these demographic characteristics, the Netherlands has had to plan its land use strictly. Since 1946 the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment has been occupied with the national coordination of land use. Because of its high population density the Netherlands has also reclaimed land from the sea by poldering. Between 1927 and 1968 an entire province - Flevoland - was created. As of May 2023 it houses 447,193 people.[3] Because of these policies, the Dutch have been able to combine high levels of population density with extremely high levels of agricultural production.
Even though the Netherlands is so densely populated, it has no municipalities with a population over one million. Nevertheless, the two largest municipalities of the country do score well over a million if the complete city region is counted, thus including the neighbouring satellite towns that often are physically connected to the main municipality. Moreover, the "four big cities" (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) can in many ways be regarded as a single metropolitan area, the Randstad ("rim city" or "edge city") with over 7.5 million inhabitants around an agricultural "green heart" (Groene Hart).
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[4]
One birth every 3 minutes
One death every 4 minutes
One net migrant every 31 minutes
Net gain of one person every 11 minutes
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The Dutch population is ageing. Furthermore, life expectancy has increased because of developments in medicine, and in addition to this, the Netherlands has seen increasing immigration. Despite these developments combined with the population boom after the Second World War, the low birth rate has caused extremely low population growth: 2005 saw the lowest absolute population growth since 1900.
This demographic development has consequences for health care and social security policy. As the Dutch population ages, the proportion of people of working age, as a percentage of the entire population, decreases. Important policy advisors like the CBS (Statistical Office) and the CPB (Planning Office) have pointed out that this will cause problems with the current system of old age pensions: fewer people will work to pay for old age pensions, while there will be more people receiving those pensions. Furthermore, the costs of health care are also projected to increase. These developments have caused several cabinets, notably the second Balkenende cabinet to reform the system of health care and social security to increase participation in the labour market and make people more conscious of the money they spend on health care.
In 2003, the annual birth rate per thousand was highest in the province of Flevoland (15.9). The overall lifelong Total fertility rate (TFR), was highest in the province of Flevoland (2.0) and lowest in the province of Limburg (1.6). The municipality with the highest TFR was Urk (3.23) followed by Valkenburg (2.83), Graafstroom (2.79) and Staphorst (2.76). The lowest TFRs were recorded in Vaals (1.11) and Thorn (1.21).[8]
The total population at December 31, 2006 was 16,356,914. The population loss due to net emigration was 35,502 (an estimated 40-50% of emigrants were ethnic non-Dutch).
In 2007, there were 117,000 immigrants (including 7000 Germans, 6000 Poles, 5000 Bulgarians, 3000 Turks and 2000 Moroccans) and 123,000 emigrants. Nearly half the emigrants were native Dutch, followed at a distance by nearly 5000 Poles and more than 3000 Germans. There was an observable increase in net immigration from the former USSR, Bulgaria and Romania.[9]
The annual death rate was lowest in the municipalities of Valkenburg (2.9 per 1000), Zeewolde (3.2), Renswoude (3.4), Westervoort and Zeevang (both 3.9). The highest annual death rates were recorded in Warmond (22.3 per 1000), Laren (19.9) and Doorn (18.8).[10]
16.4% of the total births in 2003 were to parents of non-European origin, although they account for only 12.4% of the population in the 25-34 age group. For example, 3.8% of the births were ethnic Moroccan, although they were only 2.26% of the 25-34 age group. Respective figures were 3.27% and 3.0% for Turks. The TFR for Moroccans in 2003 was 3.3 while the general TFR was 1.73. TFR was 2.3 for Turks, 1.7 for Surinamese, 1.8 for Arubans, 3.0 for Africans and 1.8 for Americans.[11] (These figures compare with a figure of around 2.1 required to maintain a stable overall population figure.)
According to Statistics Netherlands, for the year 2007, the TFR for those born in Netherlands was 1.72[12] (1.65 in 2000). TFR of Moroccan immigrants was 2.87 (3.22 in 2000) and that of Turkish immigrants was 1.88 (2.18 in 2000).[13]
Population density in the Netherlands by municipality. The largest urban area, the Randstad is clearly visible along the west coast.
"Functional urban areas"[17] are a type of urban areas with large populations where commuters from nearby areas work in the core area. There are several functional urban areas officially identified in the Netherlands. The largest ones (with populations over 300,000) are listed below, which count the populations of the core city and their "commuting zones".[18]
Between 1590 and 1800 the estimated share of foreign-born population was consistently above 5%.[23]
According to Eurostat, in 2010 there were 1,800,000 foreign-born residents in the Netherlands, corresponding to 11.1% of the total population. Of these, 1,400,000 (8.5%) were born outside the EU (including those from Dutch colonies) and 428,000 (2.6%) were born in another EU member state. The most common countries of birth being: Belgium, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom.[24] On 1 January 2016, 26.2% of persons aged 0–50 had at least one parent born in a foreign country. 11.4% of persons aged 0–50 of 'Dutch background' belonged to the 'third generation', the majority descending from Western immigrants. The third generation constitutes persons born from two second generation immigrants or one second generation immigrant and one person with a Dutch background. First and second generation immigrants and the third generation were 34.5% of the population aged 0–50.[25]
As the result of immigration from overseas, the Netherlands have a sizeable minority of non-indigenous peoples. There is also a considerable level of emigration, in majority consisting of former immigrants. In 2005, some 121,000 people left the country, while 94,000 entered it. Out of a total of 101,150 people immigrating into the Netherlands in 2006, 66,658 were from Europe, Oceania, the Americas or Japan, and 34,492 were from other (mostly developing) countries. Out of a total of 132,470 emigrants, 94,834 were going to Europe, Oceania, the Americas or Japan and 37,636 to other countries.[26]
A large number[23] of immigrants come from countries in Western Europe, mostly from the neighbouring countries of Germany and Belgium. There were five subsequent waves of immigration to the Netherlands in recent history.
In the late-1940s and into the 1950s, following the end of the Second World War, people from the newly independent Republic of Indonesia repatriated or emigrated to the Netherlands - mainly Indo-European (people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry of Dutch nationality) and supporters of the Republic of South Maluku.
Between 1960 and 1974, migrants from Greece, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Morocco came to work in the Netherlands as guest workers. They were expected to return to their own country and many did, but others remained and in the 1970s and 1980s were joined by their families. Until 2004, when marriage immigration was restricted, their children usually married others from their home country.[citation needed]
After 1974, people emigrated from the newly independent Suriname and from the Netherlands Antilles, which remained part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1974, about forty thousand Surinamese migrated while still retaining Dutch citizenship; between 1975 and 1980 there was a transitional arrangement allowing migration. Antilleans have the Dutch nationality and behave like typical labour migrants, travelling to and from the country in response to the employment available.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the number of asylum seekers was low, consisting e.g. of Chileans fleeing from political oppression and/or persecution. In the 1990s, asylum migration sharply increased,[27] largely consisting of Yugoslavs, Somalis, Iraqis, Iranians, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Afghans and Vietnamese, fleeing war or famine.[28] Between 2000 and 2014 asylum migration strongly decreased due to the strict "Cohen Law". However, the Syrian Civil War from 2011 resulted in a large influx of Syrian asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016; about ninety thousand Syrians had been granted asylum by 2018.
Since the 2000s, migrant workers and their families from the newly joined EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe, including: Poland, and Bulgaria, and non-EU states , Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia.[citation needed] In addition, a number of Spaniards, Greeks, Italians, and Portuguese also migrated due to the impact of the Great Recession in those countries. In 2005, non-Western ethnic population comprised 1.7 million individuals, about 10% of the population in the country.[29]
Illegal immigration to the Netherlands results in automatic deportation[30] but this is often not enforced for various reasons such as unknown country of origin, etc. Many Dutch provinces in 2012 had quotas for deporting illegal immigrants.[31][32][33][34]
By 2017, persons with an immigration background, both western and non-western, formed a majority in Amsterdam (2011), Rotterdam (2013) and The Hague, the three largest cities of the Netherlands.[35]
In 2005, the governmental Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau in its annual report, noted recurring integration problems for ethnic minorities. While during the economic boom of the 1990s their unemployment and dependence on welfare had strongly decreased, the economic downturn between 2001 and 2004 disproportionally affected immigrant groups. This would be explained by their functioning as a labour reserve, by their lower educational levels and by lower language skills. The report also noted that per capita social interactions between native Dutch and immigrant populations tended to decline over time, partly explainable by the size growth of immigrant groups. Integration levels strongly varied between groups. Surinamese and Antilleans were well economically integrated, but the latter less so culturally. Cultural integration was limited for Turks, but better for Moroccans. Of the asylum seekers, Somalis were among the least integrated into Dutch society, while Iranians were the best integrated with the highest education levels and modern lifestyles. Though the educational levels of the second generation were a significant improvement over those of the first generation, they still lagged behind the native Dutch who themselves on average had been attending ever higher school types. While half of all native Dutch pupils in 2005 proceeded to higher secondary education (HAVO and VWO), for Turks and Moroccans the share was a fifth and for Somali pupils even lower.[29]
In 2007, non-Western groups were generally socio-economically disadvantaged. Of the four largest non-Western groups, Turks and Moroccans were the most disadvantaged. In 2006, only 38.7% of Moroccans and 43.9% of Turks aged 15–64 were employed, meaning their unemployment rate was about four times that of the native Dutch (17.2% for Moroccans and 15.1% for Turks), and 30% received some type of social welfare.[23]
After 2008, the financial crisis and the eurocrisis again hit immigrant groups particularly hard. In 2012, at 12% non-Western migrants were six times more likely than native Dutch to receive social welfare benefits, with 2% for the Dutch.[36]
Western and non-Western fraction of low-income households and source of income. Data sourced from Statistics Netherlands.
According to a 2010 Statistics Netherlands report, the third generation of non-Western immigrants was predominantly young with 80% being younger than 15, while growing with 10% each year. The third generation have a similar employment rate as the native Dutch and receive a similar amount of social benefits. The third non-Western generation follow adult education more frequently than both the native Dutch and non-Western immigrants. The non-Western immigrant population as a whole has 1.5 to 2 times the benefit dependence compared to the natives. The non-Western third generation had a rate slightly higher than the native Dutch as crime suspects, but lower than for non-Western immigrants as a whole.[38][39]
According to Statistics Netherlands, nearly 53% of refugee households have a low income, six times the Netherlands average (8.2%).[37] For Syrian and Eritrean households the share is about 80%. At 33% the poverty risk is lowest among Iranian refugee households. The group of Syrian households at risk of poverty grew from ten thousand (76% of all Syrian households in 2016) to eighteen thousand (79% of all Syrian households) in 2018. Households of Polish, Romanian or Bulgarian origin have a greater than average risk of poverty even though households from these Eastern European countries generally depend on work for their income. Migrant workers from Eastern Europe generally perform low-skilled work while migrants from Western Europe are often highly educated.[37]
Immigrants from foreign countries are divided into several ethnic groups. For example, there are both Russians and Chechens from Russia, Turks and Kurds from Turkey, Serbs and Albanians from Serbia and immigrants from Iran are divided into Persians, Azeris and Kurds.[40]
Net migration of the Netherlands, 1995-present
Netherlands Migration Data
Year
Immigration
Emigration
Net immigration
1995
96,099
82,195
+13,904
1996
108,749
91,945
+16,804
1997
109,860
81,973
+27,887
1998
122,407
79,289
+43,118
1999
119,151
78,779
+40,372
2000
132,850
78,977
+53,873
2001
133,404
82,566
+50,838
2002
121,250
96,918
+24,332
2003
104,514
104,831
-317
2004
94,019
110,235
-16,216
2005
92,297
119,725
-27,428
2006
101,150
132,470
-31,320
2007
116,819
122,576
-5,757
2008
143,516
117,779
+25,737
2009
146,378
111,897
+34,481
2010
154,432
121,351
+33,081
2011
162,962
133,194
+29,768
2012
158,374
144,491
+13,883
2013
164,772
145,669
+19,103
2014
182,949
147,862
+35,087
2015
204,615
149,509
+55,106
2016
230,739
151,545
+79,194
2017
234,957
154,292
+80,665
2018
243,737
157,366
+86,371
2019
269,064
161,029
+108,035
2020
220,853
152,494
+68,359
2021
252,528
145,330
+107,198
2022
403,108
179,310
+223,798
2023
335,668
198,310
+137,358
National origins
Population of the Netherlands by country of birth
Pie chart showing the breakdown of the Netherlands by national origin (2022)
As of 1January2022[update], 4,438,900 citizens are of non-Dutch/Frisian origin. A majority of these (50,86%) are from seven backgrounds alone: Turks (inc. Kurds), Moroccans (inc. Berbers), Surinamese, Indonesians (inc. Moluccans), Germans, Poles and Curaçao.[41]
With the huge expansion of the European Union during the 2000s, the Netherlands has seen a rise in the number of immigrants coming from new member states. Migrant workers from these countries are estimated to be about 100,000 as of 2007.[42] Legal migrants from new EU-member states doubled between 2007–11 to 200,000,[43] with estimates totaling up to 300,000. Of the Poles who initially moved to the Netherlands in 2004, about a quarter had returned to Poland by 2006.[44] In addition, a large number of Syrians moved to the Netherlands in the 2010s mostly as refugees, with the population increasing seven-fold between 2014 and 2019. Both Poles and Syrians have overtaken the population of Antilleans during the decade.[41] More than 36,000 Roma live in the Netherlands.[45] Dutch Roma, Sinti and Dutch Jews were decimated by the Holocaust.[46][47] However, the Jewish population has seen growth in the Netherlands in recent years.[48]
The Netherlands has seen considerable emigration. In the 1950s' and early 1960s, 560,000 people migrated to the United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, leaving their war-torn and overpopulated home country behind. At least 60,000 of these migrants were Indo-European (mixed Dutch-Indonesian) repatriates that moved on, mostly to the United States, after being repatriated to the Netherlands from the former Dutch East Indies during and after the Indonesian Revolution.
In 2005, some 121,000 people migrated from the Netherlands. There is considerable migration towards neighbouring states, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom and to the Netherlands Antilles. Furthermore, almost half of the current emigration consists of people returning to their country of birth, including rejected asylum seekers, after the more stringent migration laws were implemented.
Education by background
According to a 2016 study by Statistics Netherlands, students with a non-western background generally study at a lower level of secondary education. 48 percent of those with a Dutch background were at HAVO or VWO level at third year, compared to 23 percent for Dutch Turks, 28 percent for Dutch Moroccans, 35 percent for Dutch Surinamese and 31 percent for Dutch Antilleans. Some backgrounds fared better: over 40 percent of Dutch Afghans studied at HAVO/VWO level, and for Dutch Iranians the rate was 50 percent, which was above native Dutch students.[54]
Employment and income
Unemployment, youth ages 15–24
total: 7.2%. Country comparison to the world: 130th
In 2013, Statistics Netherlands found that 26% of the population identified as Roman Catholic, 16% as Protestant, 5% as Muslim, and 6% as "other" (the last includes other Christian denominations, Hindus 0.6%, Jews 0.1%, and Buddhists 0.4%). The agency interviewed 355,237 people in the period 2010–2013.[55] In 2019, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that for the first time non-religious people were in the majority in the Netherlands. Only 49% of people older than 15 years reported to be religious; in 2012 that was still 54%. The largest religion was still Catholicism (24%), while 5% identified with Islam.[56]
The main language is Dutch, while Frisian (known as West Frisian outside of the Netherlands) is also a recognized language in the province of Friesland and is used by the government and schools there. Several dialects of Low Saxon (Nedersaksisch in Dutch) are spoken in much of the north and east and are recognized by the Netherlands as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Another group of dialects granted the status of regional language is Limburgish, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of Limburg. Major immigrant languages are Indonesian, Turkish, Arabic, Berber, Papiamento, German and Polish.
Zeeland, historically known in English by the exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east, South Holland to the north, as well as the country of Belgium to the south and west. It consists of a number of islands and peninsulas and a strip bordering the Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders. Its capital is Middelburg with a population of 48,544 as of November 2019, although the largest municipality in Zeeland is Terneuzen. Zeeland has two seaports: Vlissingen and Terneuzen. Its area is 2,933 square kilometres (1,132 sq mi), of which 1,154 square kilometres (446 sq mi) is water; it had a population of about 391,000 as of January 2023.
Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, often abbreviated to CBS. It is located in The Hague and Heerlen. Since 3 January 2004, Statistics Netherlands has been an independent public body, or quango. Its independent legal status enables the reliable collection and dissemination of information to support public debate, policy development and decision-making.
Islam is the second largest religion in the Netherlands, after Christianity, and is practised by 5% of the population according to 2018 estimates. The majority of Muslims in the Netherlands belong to the Sunni denomination. Many reside in the country's four major cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
Allochtoon is a Dutch word (from Greek: ἀλλόχθων, from ἄλλος allos'other' and χθών chthōn'soil, earth, land', literally meaning "emerging from another soil". It is the opposite of the word autochtoon (in English "autochthonous" or "autochthon"; from Greek αὐτόχθων, from αὐτός autos'self, same' and again χθών chthōn'soil, earth, land', literally meaning "emerging from this soil".
The Dutch diaspora consists of the Dutch and their descendants living outside the Netherlands.
Turks in the Netherlands, also Dutch Turks or Turkish Dutch, refers to people of full or partial Turkish ethnicity living in the Netherlands. They form the largest ethnic minority group in the country; thus, the Turks are the second-largest ethnic group in the Netherlands after the ethnic Dutch. The majority of Dutch Turks descend from the Republic of Turkey; however, there has also been significant Turkish migration waves from other post-Ottoman countries including ethnic Turkish communities which have come to the Netherlands from the Balkans, the island of Cyprus, as well as from other parts of the Levant. More recently, during the European migrant crisis significant waves of Turkish minorities from Syria and Kosovo have also arrived in the Netherlands. In addition, there has been migration to the Netherlands from the Turkish diaspora; many Turkish-Belgians and Turkish-Germans have arrived in the country as Belgian and German citizens.
Cape Verdeans in the Netherlands consist of migrants from Cape Verde to the Netherlands and their descendants. As of 2022, figures from Statistics Netherlands showed 23,150 people of Cape Verdean origin in the Netherlands.
Moroccans in the Netherlands, also Moroccan Dutch or Dutch Moroccans, are citizens or residents of the Netherlands of Moroccan origin. They consist of immigrants from Morocco and their descendants, and form the second largest ethnic group in the Netherlands.
Koreans in the Netherlands form one of the smaller Korean diaspora groups in Europe. As of 2022, 9,469 people of Korean origin lived in the Netherlands.
Somalis in the Netherlands are residents or naturalized citizens of the Netherlands who are of Somali ancestry. They form one of the larger Somali communities in Europe and amongst the second largest African foreign community in the Netherlands. The Somalis form the second largest African community in The Netherlands and are one of the fastest growing communities.
There is a small population of Angolans in the Netherlands numbering around 10,000 people, largely consisting of refugees from the Angolan Civil War.
There is a small community of Nigerians in the Netherlands, which began to grow in the late 1980s.
Surinamese people are people who identify with the country of Suriname. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Surinamese, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Surinamese.
Arabs in Europe are people from Arabic-speaking countries living in Europe. Several million Arabs are residents in Europe. The vast majority form part of what is sometimes called the "Arab diaspora".
Portuguese in the Netherlands, also Portuguese Dutch, Dutch Portuguese or Luso-Dutch, are the citizens or residents of the Netherlands whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal.
Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags 21 of the 26 other member states of the European Union in the consumption of energy from renewable sources. In 2022, the Netherlands consumed just 15% of its total energy from renewables. According to statistics published by Eurostat, it was the last among the EU countries in the shift away from global warming-inducing energy sources. The leading renewable sources in the country are biomass, wind, solar and both geothermal and aerothermal power. In 2018 decisions were made to replace natural gas as the main energy source in the Netherlands with increased electrification being a major part of this process.
Latin American migration to Europe is the diaspora of Latin Americans to the continent of Europe, dating back to the first decades of the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Americas. Latin Americans in Europe are now a rapidly growing group consisting of immigrants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. It may also include individuals from certain French-speaking territories depending on the definition of Latin America used.
Hongkongers in the Netherlands are people in the Netherlands originated from Hong Kong or having at least once such parent.
South Asians in the Netherlands, also referred to as South Asian Dutch or Dutch South Asians, are citizens or residents of the Netherlands whose ancestry traces back to South Asia. They are a subcategory of Dutch Asians.
Asians in the Netherlands, also referred to as Asian Dutch or Dutch Asians, are citizens or residents of the Netherlands whose ancestry traces back to Asia. The majority of Dutch Asians hail from Turkey and Indonesia of which the latter was a former Dutch colony and from countries such as Syria, China, Iraq, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Philipphines, Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong.
↑ Note: Crude migration change% is a trend analysis, an extrapolation, based average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics). As average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not end of the year.
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