Over half of Dutch voters are over age 50

More than half of the 13.3 million eligible voters (54 percent) are 50 years old or older. Relatively speaking, the municipalities of Bergen and Laren in Noord-Holland are home to the most eligible voters over 50 (both almost 70 percent), reported Statistics Netherlands based on provisional population figures from October 1 this year.

Vaals (almost 68 percent), Mook en Middelaar (66.5 percent), and Gulpen-Wittem (over 66 percent) in Limburg also have relatively many older voters. The municipality of Utrecht has relatively the fewest voters aged 50 or older (35 percent), followed by Urk (over 37 percent).

Student cities have proportionally much younger voters. A quarter of all people who are allowed to vote are younger than 35 years old in these cities. Most voters under the age of 35 live in the municipalities of Groningen and Utrecht (both 41 percent), followed by Leiden, Wageninen, and Delft (all three over 38 percent).

In Tubbergen, almost all adults (almost 99 percent) are eligible to vote next Wednesday. The municipalities with the fewest eligible voters are Vaals (67 percent), Diemen, and Amsterdam (both 76 percent). According to CBS, that is because relatively few people with a foreign nationality live in municipalities in the Northern and Eastern Netherlands.

CBS expects that the population that can vote on Wednesday has changed slightly since the start of October. During that period, around 22,000 young people turned 18 and can vote for the first time. CBS also estimates that approximately 24,000 people died in the period.

The stats office did not include these changes in its study. Residents of the Caribbean Netherlands who have Dutch nationality and are allowed to vote are also not included. Neither are Dutch people abroad or people who are not included in the population register, like diplomats.