Demographics of the Netherlands
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Demographics of the Netherlands
Historical demographics of the Netherlands,
Data of FAO, year 2005; Number of inhabitants
in thousands.
Population
16,491,461 (58th)
Population
density
393/km² (23rd)
Growth
Growth Rate
0.49% (164th)
Birth rate
10.9 births/1,000 population
(157th)
Death rate
8.68 deaths/1,000 population
(91st)
Net migration
rate
2.72 migrant(s)/1,000
population
Fertility rate
1.75 children born/woman
Life expectancy at birth
Total
78.96 years (20th)
Male
76.39 years
Female
81.67 years
All are 2006 estimates of the CIA
The population of the Netherlands is concentrated on a limited territory. Furthermore the
demographic development is characterized by three trends: increasing longevity, decreasing
birth rates and an increasing percentage of population from foreign extraction.
Contents
[hide]
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1 Population density
2 Birth & Death
3 Migration
o 3.1 Recent Developments
o 3.2 Emigration
4 Religion
5 Language
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Population density
The Netherlands is the twenty-third most densely populated country in the world. The
16,491,461 Dutch men and women are concentrated on an area of 41,526 km²; this means that
the country has a population density of 393/km², or 482/km² if only the land area, 33,883 km²,
is counted.
Only Bangladesh and South Korea are larger and more densely populated (hence have a larger
population), and only Taiwan is smaller and has a larger population (hence a larger population
density). There are 21 more countries (12 independent ones and 9 dependent territories) with a
larger population density, but they all have a smaller population (hence a smaller area). If the
water area is not counted then Taiwan is larger, and there are 16 more countries (9
independent ones and 7 dependent territories) with a larger population density.
Not counting dependent territories, 50 countries are smaller and less densely populated (hence
have a smaller population), 73 countries are larger and have a smaller population (hence a
smaller population density), and 55 countries with a smaller population density, but a larger
population (hence a larger area).
As a result of these demographic characteristics the Netherlands has had to plan its land use
strictly. Since 1946 the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment has been
occupied with the national coordination of land use. Because of its high population density the
Netherlands has also reclaimed land from the sea by poldering. Between 1927 and 1968 an
entire province, Flevoland was created. It currently houses 365,301 people. Because of these
policies, the Dutch have been able to combine high levels of population density with
extremely high levels of agricultural production.
Even though the Netherlands is so densely populated; there are no cities with a population
over 1 million in the Netherlands. Instead 'four big cities' as they are called (Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) can in many ways be regarded as a single metropolitan
area, the Randstad ('rim or edge city') with about 7 million inhabitants around an agricultural
'green heart' (het Groene Hart). The unity of this conurbation can be illustrated by the current
idea effort to create a circular train system connecting the four cities.
Notable is the fact that the population of the Netherlands is physically the tallest in the world,
with an average height of 1.83 m (6 ft ) for adult males and 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) for adult
females.
[edit] Birth & Death
The Dutch population is ageing. Because of birth
control-measures the Dutch birth rate is declining.
Furthermore, the life expectancy has increased
because of developments in medicine, and in addition
to this, the Netherlands has seen increasing
immigration. These developments combined with the
population boom after the Second World War has
created extremely low population growth: in 2005
saw the lowest absolute population growth since
1900.
Dutch population pyramid
%
(in % of total population)
Male
Age
Female
%
0.36
85+
1.05
0.60
80-84
1.18
1.14
75-79
1.74
1.55
70-74
1.95
1.93
65-69
2.13
2.30
60-64
2.33
2.77
55-59
2.69
3.73
50-54
3.60
3.65
45-49
3.54
This has created a demographic problem with
3.93
40-44
3.81
consequences for health care and social security
4.27
35-39
4.08
policy. As the Dutch population ages, the number of
4.25
30-34
4.05
people able to work, as a percentage of the entire
3.63
25-29
3.54
population, decreases. Important policy advisors like
3.04
20-24
2.93
the CBS and the CPB have predicted that this makes
2.96
15-19
2.83
the current system of old age pensions problematic:
3.11
10-14
2.97
fewer people will work to pay for old age pensions,
3.20
05-09
3.06
while there will be more people receiving those
3.11
00-04
2.98
pensions. Furthermore the costs of health care are also
Data: International Data Base (2000)
projected to increase. These developments have
caused several cabinets, most notably the recent
Second cabinet Balkenende to reform the system of health care and social security: increasing
participation in the labour market and making people more conscious of the money they
spend on health care.
In international comparison, this problem is only relative: the Netherlands has the youngest
population in Europe after Ireland[citation needed]. The effects of the aging population is already
visible in Limburg.
In 2003, the birth rate was highest in the province of Flevoland (15.9). TFR was highest in the
province of Flevoland (2.0) and lowest in the province of Limburg (1.6). The municipality
with the highest TFR was Urk (3.23) followed by Valkenburg (2.83), Graafstroom(2.79) and
Staphorst (2.76). The lowest TFR were recorded in Vaals (1.11)and Thorn (1.21). [1]
For the year 2006, there were 185,124 births, 135,809 deaths, 101,489 immigrants and
132,682 emigrants. The net population growth was 22,704. The total population at December
31, 2006 was 16,356,914. The population loss due to net emigration was 35,502 (an estimated
40-50% of emigrants were ethnic non-Dutch).
In 2007, there were 181,000 births and 133,000 deaths. There were 117,000
immigrants(Including 10,000 Poles, 7,000 Germans, 5,000 Bulgarians, 3,000 Turks and 2,000
Moroccans) and 123,000 emigrants(Nearly half of emigrants were native Dutch, followed at a
distance by nearly 5000 Germans and more than 3000 Poles). Increase in net-immigration was
noticed from Poland, USSR, Bulgaria and Romania. [2]
The death rate were lowest in the municipalities of Valkenburg (2.9 per 1000), Zeewolde
(3.2), Renswoude (3.4), Westervoort and Zeevang (both 3.9). The highest death rates were
recorded in Warmond (22.3), Laren (19.9) and Doom (18.8). [3]
16.4% of the total births in 2003 were to parents of non-European origin, although they
constitute only 12.4% of the population in the 25-34 age group. For example, 3.8% of the
births were ethnic Moroccan, although they were only 2.26% of the 25-34 age group.
Respective figures were 3.27% and 3.0% for Turks. The TFR for Moroccans in 2003 was 3.3
while the general TFR was 1.73. TFR was 2.3 for Turks, 1.7 for Surinamese, 1.8 for Arubans,
3.0 for Africans and 1.8 for Latinos. [4]
According to Statistics Netherlands, for the year 2007, TFR for those who were born in
Netherlands was 1.72[1] (1.65 in 2000). TFR of Moroccan immigrants was 2.87 (3.22 in 2000)
and that of Turkish immigrants was 1.88 (2.18 in 2000). [5]
[edit] Migration
As the result of immigration, the Netherlands is an ethnically diverse country. There is also
considerable emigration. In 2005 some 121,000 left the country, while 94,000 entered it. Out
of a total of 101,150 people immigrating to Netherlands in 2006, 66,658 were from Europe,
Oceania, Americas or Japan, and 34,492 were from other (mostly developing) countries. Out
of a total of 132,470 emigrants, 94,834 were going to Europe, Oceania, Americas or Japan
and 37,636 to other countries. [6]
A large number of immigrants comes from countries in Western Europea, mostly from the
bordering countries of Germany and Belgium. There were four waves of migration from nonWestern countries.
1. In the 1940s people from the newly independent Indonesian republic migrated to the
Netherlands - mainly the Indo (people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry)
and people from the Maluku Islands, which had been incorporated into Indonesia.
2. In the 1960s and 1970s migrants from Turkey and Morocco came to work in the
Netherlands as guest workers. They were expected to return to their own country and
many did, but others remained and in the 1980s and 1990s were joined by their
families. In the 2000s their children usually marry people from their home country.
3. In the 1970s and 1980s people migrated from the newly independent Surinam and
from the Netherlands Antilles, which remained part of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands. These people migrated because these people still held a Dutch passport
and saw a better future in the Netherlands.
4. In the 1990s the Netherlands saw increasing migration from asylum seekers.
[edit] Recent Developments
With the enlargement of the European Union during the 2000s, the Netherlands has seen a
rise of migrants coming from new member countries. Migrant workers from these countries
total about 100,000 as of 2007.[2] In the first nine months of 2007, about 13,000 immigrants
from Bulgaria, Romania and Poland moved to the Netherlands, almost twice as much as in the
same period a year earlier. Of the Poles who initially moved in 2004, about a quarter has
returned by 2006.[3]
Ethnic Group
Number
Percentage
Ethnic Dutch
13,179,900
80,9%
Indonesian
395,800
2,4%
German
386,200
2,4%
Turkish
357,900 (According to the 2008 census the Turkish
population has increased to 372,714 [4])
2,2%
Surinamese
328,300
2,0%
Moroccans
314,700
1,9%
Netherlands Antilles
and Aruba
129,700
0,8%
Belgians
112,600
0,7%
British
76,200
0,5%
Former Yugoslavia
76,100
0,5%
Chinese
43,900
0,3%
Former Soviet Union
43,900
0,3%
Iraqi
43,500
0,3%
Pakistani
40,000
0,25%
Poles
39,500
0,2%
Afghani
36,700
0,2%
Irani (Persians)
28,500
0,2%
Somali
21,700
0,1%
Other non-Western
387,100
1,5%
Other Western
291,000
1,8%
These groups are often combined into broader categories:
Category
Percentage
White
87.3%
Arab or Middle-Eastern (pred. Morroccan and Turkish)
4.7%
Asian (pred. Indonesian, Chinese and Indian)
4.3%
Black or Afro-Caribbean
3.0%
Latino
0.7%
[edit] Emigration
The Netherlands has seen considerable emigration. In the 1950s 560,000 Dutch people
migrated to the United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, leaving their
war-torn and overpopulated home country behind. In 2005 some 121,000 people migrated
from the Netherlands. There is considerable migration towards neighbouring states, Belgium,
Germany and the United Kingdom and to the Netherlands Antilles. Furthermore almost half
of the current emigration consists out of people returning to their country of birth, including
rejected asylum seekers, after the more stringent migration laws were implemented.
[edit] Religion
Main article: Religion in the Netherlands
According to the CIA World Factbook,[5] as of 2002 the religious makeup of the Netherlands
was 31% Roman Catholic, 13% Dutch Reformed, 7% Calvinist, 5.5% Muslim, 2.5% other
and 41% none. However, according to a survey[6] done in 2006, 25% of the Dutch people are
Christian, 3% adhere to another organised religion (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism etc) , 26% are
'unbounded spiritual' (individual spiritual beliefs, agnostics, etc), 26% are non-religious
(moderate) humanist and the remaining 18% are non-religious non-humanist.
[edit] Language
Main article: Languages of the Netherlands
The main language is Dutch, while West Frisian is also a recognized language and it is used
by the government in the province of Friesland. Several dialects of Low Saxon
(Nedersaksisch in Dutch) are spoken in much of the north and east and are recognized by the
Netherlands as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages. Another Dutch dialect granted the status of regional language is
Limburgish, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of Limburg.
[edit] See also
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Dutch people
Cape Verdean Dutch
[edit] References
1. ^ http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/A157E464-812A-40CC-8A71E85FDF3A16B0/0/2008k1b15p55art.pdf
2. ^ "Donner: 100.000 Oost-Europeanen werken in Nederland" (2007-11-25). Retrieved
on 2007-11-25.
3. ^ "Immigratie Oost-Europeanen blijft hoog". CBS (2007-11-28). Retrieved on 200711-28.
4. ^ Statistics Netherlands 2008
5. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Netherlands
6. ^ Motivaction - Religie is niet weg, maar anders
[edit] External links
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CIA World Factbook data
CBS Dutch Bureau of Statistics