Demography of the Netherlands


This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Netherlands, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the population, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population size

The Netherlands is the 64th most populated country in the world, and as of March 21, 2016, it has a population of 17,000,000. As of April 30, 2020 the Netherlands has population of 17,418,465.
Between 1900 and 1950 the population doubled from 5.1 to 10.0 million people. From 1951 to 2000 the population increased from 10.0 to 15.9 million people, increasing by a smaller proportion.
per province in 2006
The Netherlands is the 16th most densely populated country in the world, and the 5th most densely populated country in Europe. The 17.4 million Dutch inhabitants are concentrated on an area of including water surface, the land surface being. This means that the country has a population density of. 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. It currently houses more than 400,000 people. 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, although the two largest municipalities of the country do score well over a million if the complete city region is counted, including the neighbouring satellite towns that often are physically connected to the main municipality. Moreover, the "four big cities" can in many ways be regarded as a single metropolitan area, the Randstad with over 7.5 million inhabitants around an agricultural "green heart".

Births and deaths

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 and the CPB 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, most notably the recent 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. The overall lifelong Total fertility rate, was highest in the province of Flevoland and lowest in the province of Limburg. The municipality with the highest TFR was Urk followed by Valkenburg, Graafstroom and Staphorst. The lowest TFRs were recorded in Vaals and Thorn.
The total population at December 31, 2006 was 16,356,914. The population loss due to net emigration was 35,502.
In 2007, there were 117,000 immigrants 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.
The annual death rate was lowest in the municipalities of Valkenburg, Zeewolde, Renswoude, Westervoort and Zeevang. The highest annual death rates were recorded in Warmond, Laren and Doorn.
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.
According to Statistics Netherlands, for the year 2007, the TFR for those born in Netherlands was 1.72. TFR of Moroccan immigrants was 2.87 and that of Turkish immigrants was 1.88.

Total Fertility Rate from 1840 to 1899

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.
Years18401841184218431844184518461847184818491850
Total Fertility Rate in the Netherlands5.115.095.065.045.024.994.994.994.994.994.89

Years1861186218631864186518661867186818691870
Total Fertility Rate in the Netherlands4.834.94.984.995.015.025.045.055.095.12

Years1881188218831884188518861887188818891890
Total Fertility Rate in the Netherlands5.325.285.255.235.215.185.165.145.115.07

Vital statistics

The following table presents the evolution since 1900; click on "show" to display the table:
PopulationLive births Deaths Natural change Birth rate
Mortality rate
Natural change
TFR
IMR
Life expectancy malesLife expectancy females
19005,142,000162,61192,04370,56831.617.913.74.45155.2--
19015,221,000168,38089,96778,41332.317.215.04.53149.3--
19025,305,000168,72886,24882,48031.816.315.54.46129.9--
19035,389,000170,10883,93386,17531.615.616.04.42135.1--
19045,470,000171,49587,09184,40431.415.915.44.38136.9--
19055,551,000170,76785,01685,75130.815.315.44.29130.9--
19065,632,000170,95283,25987,69330.414.815.64.23127.1--
19075,710,000171,50682,25089,25630.014.415.64.18111.9--
19085,786,000171,86186,93684,92529.715.014.74.13124.8--
19095,862,000170,76680,28390,48329.113.715.44.0499.1--
19105,899,000168,89479,98488,91028.613.615.13.94107.9--
19115,976,000166,52786,78679,74127.914.513.33.81137.2--
19126,054,000170,26974,64795,62228.112.315.83.8487.0--
19136,145,000173,54175,86797,67428.212.315.93.8591.4--
19146,251,000176,83177,73999,09228.312.415.93.8694.8--
19156,364,000167,42679,61387,81326.312.513.83.5986.8--
19166,480,000172,57284,02488,54826.613.013.73.6484.5--
19176,612,000173,11287,27385,83926.213.213.03.5986.8--
19186,705,000167,636115,44052,19625.017.27.83.47103.9--
19196,752,000164,44789,64674,80124.413.311.13.3694.0--
19206,820,000192,98781,525111,46228.312.016.33.8983.3--
19216,921,000189,54677,002112,54427.411.116.33.7586.1--
19227,032,000181,88680,381101,50525.911.414.43.5477.6--
19237,150,000187,51272,809114,70326.210.216.03.5566.8--
19247,264,000182,43071,167111,26325.19.815.33.3960.6--
19257,366,000178,54572,121106,42424.29.814.43.2658.4--
19267,472,000177,49873,357104,14123.89.813.93.1861.1--
19277,576,000175,09877,61497,48423.110.212.93.0858.7--
19287,678,000179,02873,816105,21223.39.613.73.0952.3--
19297,781,000177,21683,22493,99222.810.712.13.0059.0--
19307,884,000182,31071,682110,62823.19.114.03.0350.9--
19317,999,000177,38777,048100,33922.29.612.52.8849.6--
19328,122,000178,52573,059105,46622.09.013.02.8346.3--
19338,237,000171,28972,09699,19320.88.812.02.6643.9--
19348,341,000172,21470,164102,05020.68.412.22.6342.6--
19358,433,000170,42573,66096,76520.28.711.52.5740.0--
19368,516,000171,67573,92397,75220.28.711.52.5138.9--
19378,598,000170,22075,51694,70419.88.811.02.5338.1--
19388,684,000178,42277,043101,37920.58.911.72.6336.5--
19398,781,000180,91775,841105,07620.68.612.02.6433.7--
19408,879,000184,84687,72297,12420.89.910.92.6739.1--
19418,965,000181,95989,71692,24320.310.010.32.6143.6--
19429,042,000189,97576,040113,93521.08.412.62.7139.5--
19439,102,000209,37991,438117,94123.010.013.02.9840.1--
19449,174,000219,946108,087111,85924.011.812.23.1346.3--
19459,262,000209,607141,39868,20922.615.37.42.9679.7--
19469,423,000284,45680,151204,30530.28.521.73.9738.7--
19479,629,000267,34877,646189,70227.88.119.73.7033.5--
19489,800,000247,92372,459175,46425.37.417.93.4129.3--
19499,956,000236,17781,077155,10023.78.115.63.2226.8--
195010,114,000229,71875,929153,78922.77.515.23.1026.770.372.6
195110,264,000228,40577,560150,84522.37.614.73.0526.770.272.8
195210,382,000231,88876,346155,54222.37.415.03.0924.171.073.3
195310,493,000227,96480,901147,06321.77.714.03.0323.770.473.0
195410,615,000228,17379,623148,55021.57.514.03.0322.671.073.8
195510,751,000229,22281,708147,51421.37.613.73.0321.670.971.4
195610,889,000231,49284,809146,68321.37.813.53.0520.271.074.1
195711,021,000233,89282,961150,93121.27.513.73.0818.471.474.6
195811,186,000236,85984,491152,36821.27.613.63.1118.571.574.8
195911,346,000242,51886,072156,44621.47.613.83.1718.171.275.2
196011,480,000239,12887,825151,30320.87.713.23.1217.971.475.3
196111,637,000247,40788,321159,08621.37.613.73.2217.071.575.7
196211,890,000246,15093,969152,18120.77.912.83.1817.071.075.6
196312,042,000249,87995,734154,14520.88.012.83.1915.871.075.8
196412,212,000250,91493,437157,47720.57.712.93.1714.871.376.3
196512,377,000245,21698,026147,19019.87.911.93.0414.471.176.1
196612,535,000239,611100,516139,09519.18.011.12.9014.771.076.1
196712,597,000238,67899,792138,88618.97.911.02.8113.471.276.6
196812,725,000237,112104,989132,12318.68.310.42.7213.670.976.4
196912,958,000247,588107,615139,97319.18.310.82.7513.270.976.3
197013,032,000238,912109,619129,29318.38.49.92.5712.770.876.5
197113,266,000227,180110,243116,93717.18.38.82.3612.171.076.8
197213,330,000214,133113,576100,55716.18.57.52.1511.770.876.5
197313,438,000194,993110,68284,31114.58.26.31.9011.571.377.1
197413,541,000185,982109,25076,73213.78.15.71.7711.371.677.6
197513,653,000177,876113,73764,13913.08.34.71.6610.671.577.7
197613,770,000177,090114,45462,63612.98.34.51.6310.771.577.9
197713,853,000173,296110,09363,20312.57.94.61.589.572.178.5
197813,937,000175,550114,41561,13512.68.24.41.589.672.078.5
197914,030,000174,979112,56562,41412.58.04.41.568.772.578.9
198014,144,000181,294114,27967,01512.88.14.71.608.672.579.2
198114,246,000178,569115,51563,05412.58.14.41.568.372.779.3
198214,310,000172,071117,26454,80712.08.23.81.508.372.879.4
198314,362,000170,246117,76152,48511.98.23.71.478.472.979.6
198414,420,000174,436119,81254,62412.18.33.81.498.373.079.7
198514,484,000178,136122,70455,43212.38.53.81.518.073.179.7
198614,564,000184,513125,30759,20612.78.64.11.557.773.179.6
198714,665,000186,667122,19964,46812.78.34.41.567.673.580.1
198814,758,000186,647124,16362,48412.68.44.21.556.873.780.2
198914,849,000188,979128,90560,08612.78.74.01.556.873.779.9
199014,951,000197,965128,82469,11513.28.64.61.627.173.880.1
199115,070,000198,665129,95868,70713.28.64.61.616.574.180.2
199215,184,000196,734129,88766,84713.08.64.41.596.374.380.3
199315,290,000195,748137,79557,95312.89.03.81.576.374.080.0
199415,383,000195,611133,47162,14012.78.74.01.575.674.680.3
199515,459,000190,513135,67554,83812.38.83.51.5315.574.680.4
199615,528,000189,521137,56151,96012.28.93.31.5295.774.780.4
199715,611,000192,443135,78356,66012.38.73.61.5625.075.280.6
199815,706,000199,412137,96861,44412.78.83.91.6285.275.280.7
199915,812,000200,445140,48759,95812.78.93.81.6525.275.380.5
200015,924,000206,619140,52766,09213.08.84.21.7235.175.580.6
200116,044,000202,603140,37762,22612.68.73.91.7105.475.880.7
200216,149,000202,083142,35559,72812.58.83.71.7315.076.080.7
200316,225,000200,297141,93658,36112.38.73.61.7474.876.280.9
200416,282,000194,007136,55357,45411.98.43.51.7264.476.981.4
200516,320,000187,910136,40251,50811.58.43.21.7084.977.281.6
200616,346,000185,057135,37249,68511.38.33.01.7204.477.681.9
200716,382,000181,336133,02248,31411.18.12.91.7184.178.082.3
200816,446,000184,634135,13649,49811.28.23.01.7733.878.382.3
200916,530,000184,915134,23550,68011.28.13.11.7903.878.582.7
201016,615,000184,397136,05848,33911.18.22.91.7963.878.882.7
201116,693,000180,060135,74144,31910.88.12.71.7593.679.282.8
201216,754,000175,959140,81335,14610.58.42.11.7233.779.182.8
201316,803,000171,341141,24530,09610.28.41.81.6793.879.483.0
201416,865,000175,181139,07335,43410.38.22.11.71379.983.3
201516,900,000170,510147,13423,37610.08.71.31.65879.783.1
201616,979,000172,520148,99723,52310.28.81.31.65479.983.2
201717,082,000169,836150,21419,6229.98.81.11.60780.183.4
201817,181,084168,525153,36315,1629.88.90.91.59-
201917,282,163169,680151,88517,7959.88.81.0-

Current natural increase

Source: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
Sources: Our World In Data
1850–1950
Years18501851185218531854185518561857185818591860
Life expectancy in the Netherlands39.840.038.638.638.634.538.835.534.730.936.9

Years1871187218731874187518761877187818791880
Life expectancy in the Netherlands32.936.539.241.338.240.442.041.141.940.3

Years1891189218931894189518961897189818991900
Life expectancy in the Netherlands44.243.945.846.946.648.649.449.149.348.4

Years1911191219131914191519161917191819191920
Life expectancy in the Netherlands53.157.257.357.257.256.255.647.655.057.8

Years1931193219331934193519361937193819391940
Life expectancy in the Netherlands64.365.466.066.666.566.767.067.467.765.4

Migration and ethnicity

Between 1590 and 1800 the estimated share of foreign-born population was consistently above 5%.
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 were born outside the EU and 428,000 were born in another EU member state. The most common countries of birth being: Belgium, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom.
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 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.
A large number 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.
  1. 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 and supporters of the Republic of South Maluku.
  2. Between 1960 and 1974, migrants from Southern Europe, 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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, largely consisting of Yugoslavs, Somalis, Iraqis and Iranians, fleeing war or famine. Between 2000 and 2014 asylum migration strongly decreased due to the strict "Cohen Law". However, the Syrian Civil War of 2011 resulted in a large influx of Syrian asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016; about ninety thousand Syrians had been granted asylum by 2018.
  5. Since the 2000s, migrant workers and their families from the newly-joined EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe, including: Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, and non-EU states Moldova, Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia. 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.
Illegal immigration to the Netherlands results in automatic deportation 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.
By 2017, persons with an immigration background, both western and non-western, formed a majority in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, the three largest cities of the Netherlands.
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, for Turks and Moroccans the share was a fifth and for Somali pupils even lower.
In 2007, non-Western groups were generally socio-economically disadvantaged and of the four largest non-Western groups, Turks and Moroccans were the most disadvantaged. In 2006 38.7% of Moroccans and 43.9% of Turks aged 15–64 were in employment, their unemployment rate was about four times the level of the native Dutch, and 30% received some type of social welfare.
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.
.
According to a 2010 Statisics Netherlands report, the third generation of non-Western immigrants was predominantly young with 80% being younger than 15, while growing with 10% evey 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.
According to Statistics Netherlands, nearly 53% of refugee households have a low income, six times the Netherlands average. For Syrian and Eritrean househoulds 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 to eighteen thousand 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.
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.

Ethnic groups

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. Legal migrants from new EU-member states doubled between 2007–11 to 200,000, 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.
National origins or ethnic group2019201820172016201520142013201220102009
Dutch 13 196 025 13 209 225 13 218 754 13 226 829 13 235 405 13 234 545 13 236 494 13 236 618 13 215 458 13 196 916
Turks 409 877 404 459 400 367 397 471 396 555 396 414 392 923 392 923 384 164 378 400
Moroccans 402 492 396 539 391 088 385 761 380 755 374 996 368 838 362 954 349 270 341 640
Indos 358 773 361 594 364 328 366 849 369 661 372 233 374 847 377 618 382 319 384 553
Surinamese353 909 351 681 349 978 349 022 348 662 348 291 344 734 344 734 342 016 338 519
Germans351 552 354 136 356 875 360 116 364 125 368 512 ??379 017 379 518
Poles185 497 173 050 161 158 149 831 137 794 123 003 111 121 100 775 77 178 68 844
Dutch Caribbean people155 492 153 469 150 981 148 926 146 855 145 499 143 992 138 113 134 486 -
Belgians119 769 118 725 117 495 116 389 115 687 ????112 529
Syrians98 090 90 771 72 903 43 838 22 568 13 744 11 665 11 025 y10 263 9 976
Former Soviets92 128 84 498 80 013 76 102 ????52 563
British91 154 88 390 86 293 84 466 82 879 ????77 733
Former Yugoslavs87 536 85 504 84 243 83 261 ????77 995
Chinese77 648 74 234 71 229 68 697 66 088 ????50 681
Iraqis63 008 61 255 59 497 56 269 ?????49 234
Italians56 645 53 703 50 925 48 366 ??????
Afghans49 122 47 776 46 701 44 339 ?????37 739
Indians48 724 36 818 32 682 ??????
French47 009 45 558 43 836 42 070 ??????
Spaniards46 741 42 926 41 572 ??????
Americans44 399 40 022 38 494 ??????
Iranians 44 379 42 464 40 893 38 458 ?????30 617
Somalis39 947 39 737 39 457 39 465 ?????21 753
Bulgarians34 809 27 729 25 520 ??????
Romanians34 185 25 551 23 020 ??????
Brazilians30 104 24 725 23 675 ??????
Portuguese27 450 25 637 24 930 ??????
Egyptians26 152 23 956 23 198 ??????
Greeks25 709 22 141 20 769 ??????
Hungarians24 898 22 870 22 080 ??????
Ghanaians24 460 23 430 23 168 ??????
Pakistanis23 855 22 897 22 137 21 447 ?????18 636
Ethiopians23 777 19 528 16 347 ??????
South Africans 23 738 20 859 19 877 ??????
Vietnamese 23 488 22 023 21 435 ?????18 913
Filipinos23 128 22 000 20 937 20 073 ??????
Cape Verdeans22 632 22 285 22 157 ??????
Thai21 364 20 106 19 513 ??????
Hong Kongers18 367 18 357 18 300 ??????
Colombians18 351 16 607 15 892 ??????
Australians17 349 16 597 16 127 ??????
Canadians16 614 16 240 15 944 15 625 ??????
Austrians16 055 15 777 15 674 ??????
Rest of Sub-Saharan Africa108 621 97 026 91 797 ??????
Rest of Europe77 245 68 592 65 849 ??????
Rest of Americas 52 425 47 048 45 256 ??????
Rest of North Africa and Middle East55 180 46 231 44 059 ??????
Rest of East and Southeast Asia38 279 34 562 33 473 ??????
Rest of Caribbean28 861 21 514 20 956 ??????
Rest of South Asia18 672 17 448 16 762 ??????
Rest of Oceania6 479 6 062 5 916 ??????
Others1 094 826 1 587 433 1 437 462 1 437 462 1 387 255 715 055
Total17 282 16317 181 08417 081 50716 979 12016 900 72616 829 28916 779 57516 730 34816 577 61216 486 587

Region of the World2019201820172016
Netherlands13 196 025 13 209 225 13 218 754 13 226 829
Europe 1 318 382 1 237 807 1 204 908
North Africa and Middle East1 148 300 1 081 636 1 033 393
East and South East Asia561 047 551 542 548 340
Caribbean and Suriname538 262 524 961 520 959
Sub-Saharan Africa243 175 222 585 212 811
Americas 161 893 144 346 138 942
South Asia91 251 76 403 70 891
Oceania22 828 22 659 22 043

Emigration

The Netherlands has seen considerable emigration. In the 1950s 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 repatriants 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.

Demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.
The following demographic statistics are from Cia World Factbook.
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Religion

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 agency interviewed 355,237 people in the period 2010–2013.
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, while 5% identified with Islam.

Language

The main language is Dutch, while Frisian is also a recognized language in the province of Friesland and is used by the government and schools there. Several dialects of Low Saxon 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. This includes the Tweants dialect. Another Dutch dialect 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.