Sharp rise in the number of millionaires in the Netherlands

On 1 January 2021, the Netherlands counted 317,000 millionaire households, 32,000 more than the year before. That’s an increase of 4 percent, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Monday. The primary breadwinners in these families are mostly self-employed and often in financial services, agriculture, and real estate.

The Netherlands has counted more millionaires every year since 2014. During the financial crisis in the years before, the number of millionaires remained about the same. “A million euros in 2021 had a different value than in years before,” CBS added. “If the general price development is taken into account, there were about 21,000 more millionaires in 2021 than in 2020.”

Millionaire households in the Netherlands had an average capital of 1.6 million euros in 2021, compared to an average wealth of 75,000 euros for non-millionaires. Millionaires’ wealth is about 21 times larger than non-millionaires in the Netherlands. CBS included the value of owner-occupied homes and any mortgage debts in these calculations.

Almost two-thirds of Dutch millionaires had assets between 1 and 2 million euros. A quarter is between 2 and 5 million euros. And 3 percent have over 10 million euros in wealth.

In relative terms, Noord-Holland and the province of Utrecht have the most millionaire households at 5.3 percent. The two municipalities with the highest share of millionaires are both in Noord-Holland - Bloemendaal and Laren. About 30 percent of households in those municipalities are worth 1 million euros or more.

The fewest millionaires live in Groningen and Limburg at less than 3 percent. The municipalities with the lowest share of millionaires are Kerkrade, Brunssum, Landgraaf, and Heerlen in Limburg and Nissewaard in Zuid-Holland.