Netherlands population growth already at level of entire 2018

In the first three quarters of this year, the population of the Netherlands grew by 102 thousand inhabitants. That is 23 thousand more than in the same period last year, and about as many as in the whole of 2018, Statistics Netherlands reported based on provisional figures.

Up to and including September, a total of 208 thousand immigrants settled in the Netherlands, and 121 thousand emigrants moved away. That brings the migration balance to 87 thousand Netherlands residents, almost 20 thousand higher than in the same period last year.

In addition, the Netherlands got 15 thousand extra residents because more children were born than people died. The number of births remained at about the same level as in the first three quarters of last year, but the number of deaths decreased by over 3 thousand. 

In the first three quarters of 2019, the number of immigrants with a background in another European country increased the most. There were also more immigrants from Asia, the United States and Africa settling in the Netherlands than in the same period last year.