Dutch population growth slows to 140,000, bringing total to 17.9 million

The population of the Netherlands grew by approximately 140,000 inhabitants last year, taking the total over 17.9 million, according to preliminary figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The population growth fell by over 36 percent compared to 2022, when there was a net increase of 221,000 inhabitants.

There were more deaths recorded in the last year than births, meaning the entire population growth was due to immigration last year. Even still, fewer immigrants arrived in the Netherlands last year, and emigration by non-Dutch people rose to nearly all birth or originating countries.

An estimated 165,000 children were born in 2023, down by about 3,000 compared to 2022. "The fertility rate in the Netherlands has been declining since 2010 and is expected to reach an average of 1.43 children per woman in 2023. That is slightly lower than in the early 1980s, when the fertility rate reached a low point," the national statistics office wrote.

Roughly 169,000 deaths were reported, a figure which was comparable to 2022. Excess mortality decreased, but the mortality rate was still relatively high. This means the population fell by over 4,000 when calculating the natural birth rate, without factoring in immigration.

Additionally, about 9,500 Dutch people left the Netherlands last year. A year earlier, 10,500 emigrated to another country.

"On balance, most foreign-born immigrants came from Europe (59.3 thousand), of which the majority were from former Soviet Union (24.5 thousand) countries," the CBS stated. It estimated a 16,500 net increase in the total number of immigrants and asylum seekers who arrived from Syria and became residents. There were net increases of 10,700 people from Turkey, 7,600 from India, and 6,600 from Poland.

The population increased by roughly 34.8 thousand people from other European countries that were not part of the Soviet Union. Net increases The net total of grew by 58,100 for people from a country in Asia, and 14,200 people from Africa, and 15,900 thousand from a country located in either the Americas or Oceania.

"Until November 1, 2023, the Netherlands issued 139.6 thousand permits to Ukrainian refugees in the context of the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukraine since the start of the war in Ukraine," the CBS wrote. This group is not required to first go through the asylum process. It put the per capita total of Ukrainian refugees at 7.8 per thousand inhabitants. That is well below the European Union average of 9.3 per thousand.