The Netherlands will pass the 18 million inhabitants mark sometime in the coming months | Domestic

Population growth in the first quarter of 2024 is significantly smaller than in the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2023, the population grew by more than 27,000.

According to Statistics Netherlands, the smaller growth is mainly because more people left the Netherlands and fewer people came to the Netherlands. In the first three months of 2024, almost 75,000 people settled in the Netherlands and almost 48,000 people moved abroad. On balance, 27,000 people were added through migration, 8,000 fewer than in the same period last year.

40,000 children were born in the first quarter. In addition, 47,000 people died. The so-called natural increase amounted to minus 7,000, comparable to last year.

At the end of last year, Statistics Netherlands expected that the Netherlands would have 18 million inhabitants sometime in 2024. If current population growth continues, that milestone will be reached sometime next summer. Ten years ago, that milestone was predicted in 2044.

The decline in net migration was partly due to fewer refugees from Ukraine coming to the Netherlands. Fewer people came to the Netherlands from almost countries, both within and outside Europe.

Most migrants came from Syria (5,700), Ukraine (3,600), Turkey (2,300), Poland (1,000) and Romania (1,000). Of the departed residents who were not born in the Netherlands, a large majority (69 percent) returned to their country of origin. Emigrants born in the Netherlands usually stayed within Europe.

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