Netherlands approaching 18 million residents

The Netherlands has almost 18 million inhabitants. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) expects to hit the milestone in August. The population currently stands at over 17,986 million people.

The population is the number of people registered in the Netherlands, like Dutch citizens and refugees with a residency permit. Undocumented people and asylum seekers who are not yet registered in the municipal population registers are not included in the count.

The Netherlands passed the 17 million inhabitants mark in 2016. At the time, the CBS forecast that the 18 million mark would not be reached until 2034. “If you make a forecast for the future, you base it on figures from the past, combine them with the current situation, base assumptions on them, and then extrapolate to the future,” said CBS chief sociologist Tanja Traag in a “simplified” explanation. “But if something then occurs that deviates from the image you had so far, then you have to adjust those assumptions.”

Traag referred to the war in Ukraine, which triggered large flows of refugees and caused a peak in population growth in the Netherlands in 2022. And the coronavirus pandemic resulted in many additional deaths, temporarily lowering life expectancy. However, that has been increasing again since 2022. It remains to be seen whether the pandemic will have long-term effects on population development. The factors that determine population growth are “erratic,” Traag stressed. “Population growth is not a constant increasing trend.”

Because the figures are surrounded by all kinds of uncertainties, CBS adjusts its forecast annually. The statistical office takes into account “the most recent developments and latest insights.” For example, it is now expected that annual immigration will decrease slightly in the coming years while emigration will increase. CBS currently predicts that the Netherlands will reach 19 million inhabitants in 2037.