In the past year, the Dutch population grew by about 118 thousand inhabitants to about 17.6 million. This is apparent from figures published on Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The population increased significantly more than in 2020, when ‘only’ 67 thousand inhabitants were added. By the way, these are figures up to December 1, the definitive numbers may differ slightly due to developments in the last weeks of the year.
The growth is due to two factors: immigration and natural growth. Partly due to the corona pandemic, the number of deaths in the past year was relatively high, with more than 168 thousand deaths expected. Since the beginning of August, there has been a so-called excess mortality, with more people dying than might be expected for that period. Also in early 2021, during the third wave of contamination, the number of deaths was higher than during comparable periods in previous years.
The relatively high death rates were more than offset by the high number of births. Last year 180 thousand babies were born, an increase of 10 thousand compared to previous years. In the end, due to the so-called natural increase (birth minus death), the Netherlands had eleven thousand more inhabitants last year than a year earlier. Also, more people settled in the Netherlands (245 thousand) than left (138 thousand).
The impact of population growth differs per municipality. In Flevoland, the number of inhabitants grew proportionally the most last year, while municipalities in South Limburg, the Achterhoek and Zeeland had to deal with population decline due to the relatively aging population.
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