Two-thirds fewer municipalities than in 1899, largest decrease in Zeeland

There are two-thirds fewer municipalities in the Netherlands than over a century ago. The decrease was strongest in Zeeland: the province had 109 municipalities in 1899, they now have 13. This was proven by analysis from ANP based on new numbers provided by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

There are currently 342 municipalities in the country, whereas there were over 1,100 in 1899. The average number of residents was 4,500 in 1899. Currently, the average municipality has around 52,000 residents.

The number of municipalites fell rapidly after the 1960s mainly because of reorganizations and mergers. This is because the government pursued decentralization and transferred tasks from the national government to municipalities. The government assumed that small municipalities did not have enough administrative power for these tasks, so they merged municipalities.

The population has also become more condensed. In 1899, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht together had 1.1 million inhabitants; 22 percent of the population at that time. These were the only municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants. At the beginning of 2024, 32 municipalities had more than 100 thousand inhabitants. In total, more than 6.8 million people lived here, 38 percent of the population, according to CBS.

Of these municipalities, the population increased the most in Zoetermeer and Eindhoven. These two municipalities were still villages with less than 5 thousand inhabitants 125 years ago, and now have 100 and 50 times as many inhabitants respectively. Almere, Alphen aan den Rijn, Westland and Zaanstad did not yet exist at that time. In addition to Eindhoven and Zoetermeer, Haarlemmermeer, Amersfoort and Ede have also grown considerably. These municipalities are now 8 to 10 times as large as in 1899.

The decline in the number of municipalities has virtually come to a standstill in recent years because few reorganizations or mergers are taking place anymore. The last municipal reorganization took place on January 1, 2023 in Zuid-Holland: Brielle, Hellevoetsluis and Westvoorne merged into the new municipality of Voorne aan Zee. The municipal boundaries will also not change in 2025.