Emigration grows faster than immigration
- Net migration down
- Population growth 29 thousand
In the first six months of 2011, more than 58 thousand people left the Netherlands, i.e. nearly 5 thousand more than in the same period last year. In the first two quarters of this year, 66.6 thousand foreigners came to the Netherlands, an increase by nearly 2 thousand. Net migration over the first six months of 2011 dropped to 8.3 thousand, according to the most recent figures released by Statistics Netherlands.
The increase in emigrants is largely due to native Dutch leaving the country to settle elsewhere.
The increase in the number of immigrants mainly concerns citizens born in the European Union, in particular people from Poland. The largest group of immigrants – native Dutch returning to the Netherlands – became smaller.
In the first half of this year, 88.5 thousand babies were born, 500 fewer than in the same period last year; 68 thousand persons died, 900 fewer than in the the first six months of 2010. One of the reasons for the reduced mortality is that very few people died from influenza in the spring of 2011.
Net population growth was nearly 29 thousand.