The number of people immigrating to the Netherlands is almost back to pre-coronavirus levels. This is evident from new figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) for 2021.
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208,000 people moved here from Europe or the rest of the world for a variety of reasons – from work to war – last year. That is 37,000 more newcomers than in 2020, when corona and the associated travel restrictions severely restricted immigration. In addition to the 208,000 immigrants without Dutch nationality, 19,000 people who did have a Dutch passport returned.
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Newcomers from outside Europe – more specifically the EU and the countries of the European Free Trade Association EFTA (Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland) – are responsible for the bulk of the increase. Their number increased by 30,000 last year. This mainly concerns asylum seekers and knowledge workers.
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Highly Skilled Migrants Scheme
The number of highly skilled migrants grew by 60 percent; most are from India. A relatively large number of knowledge workers also came from China and Turkey. Many migrants come this way through the IND highly skilled migrant scheme. The government also has frequently used schemes for scientists and ICT staff. In contrast, the number of migrants who settled in the Netherlands for study (45 percent) and family (35 percent) decreased slightly.
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The number of refugees increased by 75 percent last year. A total of approximately 25,000 people submitted a first asylum application, in 2020 there were 13,720. In the second half of last year in particular, a relatively large number of asylum seekers registered.
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An important reason for the higher influx is the unrest in Syria and Afghanistan. The departure of the US from the capital Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan causes an exodus of residents. In particular, Afghans who assisted Western powers in the past two decades, including the Netherlands, were evacuated or left their country themselves. 3005 Afghans applied for asylum in the Netherlands. Syrians constituted the largest group of asylum seekers with almost 8400 persons. Turks complete the top three with 2,460 asylum applications.
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Ukrainian refugees
Nevertheless, the number of asylum seekers in relation to the total number of immigrants (208,000) remains limited. Especially in light of the current Ukraine war. Since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 67,000 Ukrainian refugees have registered with Dutch municipalities, CBS reports alongside the figures for 2021.
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Those 67,000 make up slightly more than half of the total number of immigrants who have come to our country so far this year. In recent months, it caused a crisis in refugee shelters, with the application center in Ter Apel completely unable to cope with the influx and refugees often did not have a decent place to sleep.
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The number of immigrants from EU countries and the EFTA also grew, but at around 8,000, it was much more limited. The total influx of 133,000 is still below the level of 2019, for corona. Most European immigrants (24,877) came from Poland. Work and family reunification are the main arguments for European immigrants to come to the Netherlands. Incidentally, 16,000 Poles also left, which means the net number of Polish immigrants increased by just under 9,000 last year.
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Population growth
If we look at the immigration balance – the difference between immigration and emigration – the Dutch population grew by 108,275 people. A lot fewer people (142,517) left our country. The relatively large immigration is therefore the main reason that the population continues to grow, not natural increase. Apart from departures and newcomers, the population increased by 7,704 persons. Until 2014, the population growth was mainly caused by the number of births, or natural increase.
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