How fast is the population growing?

The population of the Netherlands grew relatively fast in 2019. There were more than 125 thousand new inhabitants, 25 thousand more than in the previous year. At the end of 2019, 17.4 million people were registered as residents of the Netherlands.

The last time that a year saw so many new inhabitants was around the turn of the century, when the population grew by 123 thousand in 2000. The population grew fastest in the years following the Second World War, growing 238 thousand inhabitants in the record year of 1946, a time when population growth was mainly driven by higher numbers of births than deaths. Since 2015, the largest share of population growth has been foreign migration.

Population growth mainly due to immigration

In 2019, 269 thousand immigrants settled in the Netherlands while 161 thousand emigrants left the country. Neither stream had ever been so large before. One of the reasons for the high level of foreign migration is increased immigration from other EU Member States, especially since the enlargement of the European Union to include a number of Central European countries. Furthermore, the Syrian Civil War caused a rise in the number of asylum seekers and following family members as of 2014. As some of the immigrants leave again after some time, emigration is also increasing.

Show tablePopulation growth (x 1,000)Hide tablePopulation growth (x 1,000)

Population growth (x 1,000)

Year	Population growth
1995	69.8
1996	73.2
1997	87.1
1998	106
1999	103.7
2000	123.1
2001	118.2
2002	87.3
2003	65.5
2004	47.5
2005	28.7
2006	23.8
2007	47.4
2008	80.4
2009	89.2
2010	80.8
2011	74.5
2012	49.2
2013	49.7
2014	71.4
2015	78.4
2016	102.4
2017	99.6
2018	101.1
2019	125.4

The population of the Netherlands also increased in 2019 because there were nearly 18 thousand more births than deaths. However, the birth rate has been relatively low in recent years; in 2019 almost 170 thousand were born compared to almost 185 thousand in 2009. This is partly because young women continue to postpone motherhood. In addition, the annual number of deaths is gradually increasing due to the ageing population.

Population growth slower in 2020

The population has been growing at a slower rate since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. This is not only because more people died in the months of March, April and May, but also because the number of immigrants decreased by more than half during that period. In April, the population even shrank and the number of inhabitants fell by more than 5.6 thousand. In that month, almost 19 thousand persons died, over 6 thousand more than in April 2019.

Foreign migration also picked up again after the coronavirus measures were gradually relaxed. The number of immigrants has increased every month, but has remained lower than last year. In September, nearly 31 thousand immigrants settled in the country, 5 thousand more than in August and 13 thousand more than in July.

The number of emigrants also fell following the introduction of the measures, but to a lesser extent. On balance, the number of immigrants exceeded the number of emigrants by 49 thousand. The year through to September saw more births than deaths (127 thousand compared to 122 thousand). In total, the population grew by 54 thousand up to and including September. The population grew almost twice as fast in the same period of 2019, which saw a growth of 103 thousand inhabitants up to and including September.

Show tablePopulation dynamics, January to September (x 1,000)Hide tablePopulation dynamics, January to September (x 1,000)

Population dynamics, January to September (x 1,000)

Bevolkingsontwikkeling	2018	2019	2020*
Births	127.4	128.2	126.9
Deaths	115.9	112.6	122.2
Immigration	187.6	210.5	164.4
Emigration	120.5	108.3	102.4
Population growth	78.7	103.2	54.0
* provisional figures

The questions

1. How does CBS calculate the figures?
2. How do we use our land?
3. How fast is the population growing?
4. How are the various animal species doing?
5. What are our top concerns?
6. Where do the emigrants go?
7. Who use social media the most?
8. How isolated do we feel?
9. What are our favourite wedding dates? What about partnership registrations?
10. How many under-18s are receiving youth assistance?
11. What about cyber crime?
12. What are the most popular majors?
13. What are the major religions?
14. How many overnight stays?
15. How many people shop online? And the items they buy...
16. Who are eligible to vote?
17. What are young people doing online?
18. How many adults smoke or have smoked?
19. Where were people in the Caribbean Netherlands originally born?
20. Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?
21. How much internet usage in the Caribbean Netherlands?
22. How many people (never) work from home?
23. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
24. Has our purchasing power gone up or down?
25. Which jobs have the highest levels of mental fatigue?
26. How many employees are members of a trade union?
27. How many passengers flying into and out of the Netherlands?
28. How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?
29. How many dwellings in the Netherlands?
30. How much is our average mileage in electric cars?
31. What do we import from China?
32. Which prices are up, which are down?
33. What is our production of frozen fries?
34. How many enterprises in the Netherlands?
35. How much energy do we get from biomass?
36. How much do we recycle?
37. Which flower bulbs are most common?
38. What is the impact of coronavirus?