5. The new classification in figures

This section briefly discusses some of the numerical implications of the transition to the new classification in terms of ‘born in the Netherlands or abroad’ and ‘country of origin’.

5.1 Born in the Netherlands or abroad (compared to first and second generation)

On 1 January 2021, the Netherlands had 15 million residents born in the Netherlands (Table 5.1.1), 2 million of whom are children of migrants (formerly referred to as second-generation migrants). They have one or two parents who were born abroad. Just over half (1.1 million) of them have one foreign-born and one Netherlands-born parent, just under half (890,000) have two foreign-born parents. Almost 2.5 million residents of the Netherlands are migrants, i.e. people who were born abroad (formerly referred to as first-generation migrants). The vast majority of this group have two parents who were born abroad (2.2 million).

Of the 17.5 million people who lived in the Netherlands on 1 January 2021, 14.0 percent were not born in the Netherlands (migrants). Another 11.4 percent of the population were born in the Netherlands as the child of (a) migrant(s) (with at least one foreign-born parent).

5.2 Country of origin of migrants and Netherlands-born children of migrants

On 1 January 2021, nearly 2.5 million residents of the Netherlands were born abroad. Under the new classification, two-thirds of them (1.6 million people) have their origins Outside Europe (Table 5.2.1, Figure 5.2.2). Among the traditional countries of migration, the group born in Turkey is the largest (201,000), followed by migrants born in Suriname (178,000) and Morocco (173,000). The Netherlands is also home to a relatively large group of migrants born in other Asian countries (497,000 people).

Of the 890,000 residents born in the Netherlands with two foreign-born parents, by far the largest group comes from Outside Europe. One-fifth (188,000) are of Moroccan origin, and a slightly lower number (164,000) are of Turkish origin.

Of the 1.1 million residents born in the Netherlands with one foreign-born parent, 44 percent have one or two parents born in another European country. In the Outside Europe category, the largest group (191,000) has a father or mother born in Indonesia.

Country of origin and one or two parents born abroad

Fifty-five percent of the children of migrants to the Netherlands (and who were therefore born in the Netherlands) have one parent born in the Netherlands and one parent born abroad (Table 5.2.3). This percentage varies according to country of origin and is highest among those born in the Netherlands whose country of origin belongs to the category Other - Americas and Oceania (82 percent) and those whose country of origin is European (81 percent). Among people born in the Netherlands to migrants from Morocco or Turkey, the percentage with one foreign-born parent is 22 and 26 percent respectively.

The vast majority (90 percent) of migrants to the Netherlands (and who were therefore born abroad) have two foreign-born parents (Table 5.2.3). As with Netherlands-born children of migrants, the percentage with two foreign-born parents is highest among migrants of Moroccan or Turkish origin. Almost everyone in this group has two foreign-born parents. At 97 percent, this proportion is also high among migrants of Surinamese origin. Immigrants whose country of origin is Indonesia or a country in the category Other - Americas and Oceania are least likely to have two foreign-born parents (73 percent).

Country of origin compared to western/non-western

In the previous system of classification, some migrants and their children with a country of origin in the categories Other – Americas and Oceania and Other – Asia were classified as western and some as non-western (Tables 5.2.3 and 5.2.4). For the Americas and Oceania, this is partly because the countries of North America and Oceania were counted as western countries, while countries from South and Central America were counted as non-western countries. For Asia, Japan and former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were also considered western, while other Asian countries were classified as non-western. This is not an issue for the category Other – African, as the previous system classified all African countries as non-western.