Are emigrants returning to the Caribbean Netherlands?

Between 2011 and 2016, there were 2,480 emigrants born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba. Almost 4 out of 10 (38 percent) returned to the Caribbean Netherlands within seven years. The majority were away for one or two years.

Show datatableReturn of emigrants¹⁾ (%)Hide datatableReturn of emigrants¹⁾ (%)

Return of emigrants¹⁾ (%)

length of stay abroad (years)	Bonaire	St Eustatius	Saba
0	5	4	3
1	17	12	14
2	24	19	26
3	29	26	31
4	32	29	36
5	35	31	38
6	37	33	38
7	39	33	38
¹⁾ Born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, departure between 2011 and 2016.

Of the 1,954 Bonaire residents who were born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba and emigrated between 2011–2016, 39 percent had returned to the island seven years later. As for St Eustatius, 33 percent of the 382 emigrants had returned after seven years. On Saba, 144 people emigrated between 2011–2016; seven years later, 38 percent had come back to the island.

Emigrants mainly went to the European Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten.

Show datatableReturning of emigrants, Bonaire¹⁾Hide datatableReturning of emigrants, Bonaire¹⁾

Returning of emigrants, Bonaire¹⁾

length of stay abroad (years)	Number
0	105
1	229
2	132
3	100
4	63
5	56
6	39
7	39
¹⁾ Born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, departure between 2011 and 2016.

Return after one year common on Bonaire and St Eustatius

The largest group of emigrants from Bonaire returned after one year; some after less than a year. The majority of emigrants from St Eustatius returned within one to two years, although compared to Bonaire, relatively more emigrants returned after two to three years.

Most Saba residents who were born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba and left the island, returned after spending two years abroad. This makes their most common length of stay abroad different from the other two islands. The second most common length of their stay was one year.

Show datatableReturning of emigrants, St Eustatius¹⁾Hide datatableReturning of emigrants, St Eustatius¹⁾

Returning of emigrants, St Eustatius¹⁾

length of stay abroad (years)	Number
0	15
1	32
2	27
3	24
4	14
5	8
6	5
7	1
¹⁾ Born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, departure between 2011 and 2016.

Show datatableReturning of emigrants, Saba¹⁾Hide datatableReturning of emigrants, Saba¹⁾

Returning of emigrants, Saba¹⁾

length of stay abroad (years)	Number
0	5
1	15
2	17
3	7
4	8
5	2
6	1
7	0
¹⁾ Born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, departure between 2011 and 2016.

More data on demographics available on (Dutch only)