New classification of population by origin

CBS has been publishing on migration and integration for decades. In terms of policy, research and wider societal considerations, there is a great need for these figures. Since the late 1990s, migrants and their children born in the Netherlands or abroad have been distinguished as being of western or non-western origin. In recent years it has become apparent that this classification is outdated and widely perceived as difficult to interpret. Partly for this reason, CBS decided to develop a new classification by origin for migrants in the Netherlands and their Netherlands-born children (CBS, 2021a). The aim of this new classification is to provide a more factual representation of statistical information on migration and integration. In addition, alternative classifications by country or cluster of countries are still an option for statistics and research by CBS or third parties.

This article discusses the new classification by origin for migrants and their children born in the Netherlands or abroad, and examines some of the statistical implications of the new classification compared to its predecessor.

In 2022, CBS will adopt a different approach when publishing data on people currently referred to as having a first-generation or second-generation western or non-western migration background. There are two aspects to this new approach:

1. Born in the Netherlands or abroad: classification by a person’s country of birth and that of their parents will replace the concepts of first and second generation. In classification by origin, the key element from now on will be whether a person was born in the Netherlands or abroad, and only secondarily whether a person’s parents were born here or elsewhere. Greater emphasis will also be placed on whether one or both parents were born in the Netherlands or abroad.
2. Country of origin: a new classification based on continents and a few specific countries of origin will replace the classification according to western or non-western migration background. The new classification is a geographical division based on continents, consisting of several levels and ultimately linked to individual countries of origin.

Where possible, figures within the theme of migration and integration are categorised by whether or not a person was born in the Netherlands and by country of origin. The most informative and practically feasible classification by country of origin will be selected depending on the statistical themes  and the practical possibilities related to sample size. Section 4 explores the new classification in greater depth.

Gradual introduction from the start of 2022

Introducing a new classification for migrants and their children born in the Netherlands or abroad is not a straightforward undertaking, given the implications not only for statistics and data collection by CBS but also for the research and information needs of CBS’s partners and clients. The classification western/non-western forms the basis for many publications and plays a role in statistical processes such as sampling and weighting models. This is why, from the start of 2022, the new classification will be gradually implemented in statistics, tables in StatLine and other publications.

The distinction between western and non-western has been used by CBS as the basis for classification since the 1990s. Initially used in the preparation of the population forecast, it went on to become a commonly used classification in regular CBS publications on other topics.

Handle with care

Regardless of the classification used, care needs to be exercised when formulating statistics that distinguish between people on the basis of their own or their parents’ country of birth. In 2021, CBS held a broad meeting with external experts in the field of migration and integration on the topic of conducting research involving migrants and/or their Netherlands-born children. This resulted in the Assessment Framework for Migration and Integration Statistics (CBS, 2021b), which CBS uses for its publications on this theme. The assessment framework is based on the premise that substantive and methodological considerations should always form the basis for detailing outcomes by origin. In addition, CBS remains alert as to whether differences observed in relation to origin can actually be traced back to differences in, for example, income or educational attainment. If this is the case, it will be reported in descriptive publications.

One or two parents born abroad

By taking into account whether or not someone was born in the Netherlands and whether or not one or both of their parents were born in the Netherlands, the new classification will better reflect the actual differences in starting position that people have from birth. Research has shown, for example, that children born in the Netherlands with one foreign-born parent achieved better results at school than children whose parents were both born abroad (CBS, 2016; CBS, 2012). In part, this difference is thought to be related to the fact that, on average, children with at least one parent born in the Netherlands have better language skills and greater social capital through their parental network.

Western/non-western

In recent years, the public debate regarding the use of the terms western and non-western origin as a basis for classification has intensified. Both the broad-based consultations held by CBS in preparing the Assessment Framework for Migration and Integration Statistics and the roundtable discussions with stakeholders (see below) revealed that the distinction between western and non-western is open to various interpretations. The terms western and non-western do not reflect the geographical position of the countries of migration. Not only that, but the diversity within these two groups is considerable while the stakeholders consulted pointed out that using two opposing terms sets up an expectation of opposites in terms of culture, economy and religion. It is also a difficult classification to understand, as it encompasses a number of counter-intuitive elements. Japan and Indonesia, for example, are classified as western, yet South Korea and Malaysia are classified as non-western, even though all four countries are in Asia.

Dialogue with stakeholders

To arrive at a new classification, CBS set up a carefully structured process and entered into a dialogue with both internal stakeholders and experts representing policymakers, the academic world and society at large. The roundtable discussions initiated by CBS (CBS, 2021c) involved a broad representation from organisations including the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), various government departments and universities, consulting firms and interest groups. All parties who took part in these discussions agreed that the distinction between western and non-western should no longer be used. The discussions also led to the formulation of a number of principles for a new classification.

3.1 Principles for a new classification

Based on its consultations, CBS used the following principles to arrive at a new classification for migrants and their children:

• The main categories should be as neutral as possible for use in standard publications, such as StatLine tables. It should also be clear which category individual countries belong to. The classification and the concepts used should therefore not be overly complex or academic.
• The individual categories used should add up to a total to make tables and publications as easy to understand as possible. In practice, this means that ‘Other’ categories should also be displayed. If this is not the case, people may start working on the basis of their own calculations, which can lead to confusion.
• The new classification should stand the test of time to a fair amount. Some classifications are likely to change over time and should therefore be avoided. These include a standard classification based primarily on income and life expectancy as used by the Human Development Index (HDI) (United Nations Development Programme, 2021), on the norms and values measured by the World Values Study (WVS, 2021), or on whether or not a country belongs to a particular international organisation such as the European Union (EU). For example, a statistical classification based on EU membership would have to list Poland and the Czech Republic as non-EU states for the years before 2004 and as EU states thereafter. The reverse would be true in the case of the United Kingdom for statistics before and after 2020, the year in which the UK left the European Union. This could lead to trend breaks, especially in models based on time series. It is perhaps inevitable that the new classification categories will change to some degree over time, but the aim is to ensure that they should be subject to as little change as possible. Another possible disadvantage of classifications based on substantive criteria (such as the HDI or WVS) is the risk of pre-empting a potential research question or measure of outcome.
• It is important for the new classification to consist of several levels. This means that even when the number of observations is relatively small, as is the case with survey-based statistics, it will still be possible to make distinctions by country of origin at a higher level. By the same token, statistics with a large number of observations, as is often the case with registration-based statistics, can be specified at a more detailed level. In general, the more detailed the classification by origin, the less heterogeneity there will be within individual categories. This ensures greater accuracy in reflecting the diversity within the group of migrants and their children.
• The aim is for the main classification to be used for standard publications, such as StatLine tables. However, this classification need not be used for all statistics and publications. If warranted by the research question or more appropriate to the type of study being carried out, another classification may be used. This might be a classification by wealth, migration motive or linguistic affiliation.

The new classification by origin consists of two elements: ‘born in the Netherlands or abroad’ and ‘country of origin’. Migrants are born abroad, and the children of migrants are born in the Netherlands and have at least one foreign-born parent. The person’s country of origin and that of their children are then specified at different levels according to continent and whether or not the country is a traditional country of emigration (i.e. a country with strong ties to the Netherlands based on a colonial history or labour migration including following relatives).

4.1 Born in the Netherlands or abroad

The new population classification focuses on whether a resident was born in the Netherlands or abroad. The second step is to look at the parents’ country of birth: the Netherlands or another country.

These considerations result in the following categories with regard to the classifications:

1. Born in the Netherlands
   a. Two parents born in the Netherlands
   b. One parent born in the Netherlands and one abroad
   c. Two parents born abroad
2. Born abroad
   a. Two parents born in the Netherlands
   b. One parent born in the Netherlands and one abroad
   c. Two parents born abroad

Due to the small numbers, it will not always be possible to specify the parents’ country of birth within the category ‘born abroad’ (90 percent have two parents born abroad). In the category ‘born in the Netherlands’, the largest group (87 percent) have two parents born in the Netherlands, but the number with at least one parent born abroad is also significant: two million in absolute numbers (see also 5.1). If it is not possible to make a specific distinction between people with one or two foreign-born parents, categories 1b and 1c may be combined in the category ‘at least one foreign-born parent’.

When we write about these groups, we are referring to:

• People with the Netherlands as their country of origin (category 1a)
• Migrants (category 2)
• Children of migrants (categories 1b and 1c)
• Migrants and their children (categories 1b, 1c and 2)

Difference between ‘Born in the Netherlands or abroad’ as opposed to ‘Migration background and generation’

The new classification according to the categories ‘born in the Netherlands’ or ‘born abroad’ largely corresponds to the former classification based on migration background and generation (Table 4.1). The only difference concerns the category of people born abroad who have two parents born in the Netherlands. In the new classification their country of origin is outside the Netherlands; in the old classification it was not. This group accounts for less than 1 percent of the population (138,000 people on 1 January 2021, see Table 5.1.1) and includes foreign-born children of parents who emigrated (e.g. expats or Dutch nationals living in the border regions of Belgium or Germany) who later relocated to the Netherlands. It may also include ‘incidental births abroad’: cases in which the child was born in a foreign hospital although the parents were residents of the Netherlands at the time. Because their country of birth outside the Netherlands is registered in the Personal Records Database, they will therefore be classified as ‘born abroad’ and belong to the group with a country of origin outside the Netherlands. See Figure 4.2 below for an overview of the new classification according to the distinction between ‘born in the Netherlands’ and ‘born abroad’.

4.2 Country of origin based on continents

CBS has decided to adopt a classification for country of origin based on continents. This decision largely meets the underlying principles that the categories used should be as neutral as possible, easy to understand and as consistent as possible over time.

4.2.1 Four levels

The classification by country of origin consists of several levels, starting with a three-way division into the Netherlands, Europe and Outside Europe, down to a classification by individual country. This classification is explained in greater detail in the following sections.

• Level 1: The Netherlands, Europe (excluding the Netherlands), Outside Europe
• Level 2: Outside Europe consists of two categories: traditional countries of origin (Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, Indonesia and the Dutch Caribbean) and Other – Outside Europe
• Level 3: Other – Outside Europe is made up of the following categories: Other – Africa, Other – Asia, and Other – Americas and Oceania
• Level 4: individual countries

4.2.2 Definition of continents for country of origin classification

Europe as a category includes Russia, but excludes the Netherlands, Turkey, Armenia and Georgia. In defining continents for its country of origin classification, CBS initially used the United Nations classification of countries by continent (UNStats, 2021). The only exception was Cyprus, which the UN assigns to Asia. Given Cyprus’s long history of cultural and political ties with Europe (Cyprus is part of the EU), CBS has decided to classify Cyprus as part of Europe. Some countries span more than one continent. Russia and Turkey are the most notable examples: both are partly in Europe and partly in Asia. As a result, these countries are handled differently by different agencies. For example, the United Nations classifies Turkey as part of Asia, while Eurostat includes Turkey in its statistics on Europe (Eurostat, 2021). Given that a country can be assigned to only one continent, CBS has chosen to do so on the basis of where the majority of its inhabitants live. As most of Russia’s population lives in the European part of the country, CBS has assigned it to Europe. The great majority of Turkey’s population lives in the Asian part of the country, hence Turkey’s classification as Asian.

The new classification puts Oceania in an ‘Other’ category with the Americas. At 32,000, the number of migrants and children of migrants with Oceanic origins is so small that in many statistical analyses, it will not be possible to publish separate figures for Oceania. Due to its geographical location and because residents with American origins also constitute a relatively small group in the Netherlands (226,000 people), it was decided to create the combined category ‘Other – Americas and Oceania’.

4.2.3 Traditional countries of origin

An important element in the new classification is the creation of a separate category ‘traditional countries of origin’, which takes in Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba) and Indonesia. The designation ‘Dutch Caribbean’ replaces the term ‘(former) Netherlands Antilles and Aruba’.

In addition to the historically strong migration ties that these countries have with the Netherlands, there is a more practical reason for grouping these countries in a separate category instead of categorising them with the other countries from the same continent. This has to do with the relatively large number of migrants and children of immigrants with one of these countries as their country of origin, compared to the number for other countries on the same continent. In 2021, over 1.7 million residents of the Netherlands (either migrants or the children of migrants) had one of the traditional countries of origin, compared to under 1.3 million residents with a country of origin outside Europe and outside one of the traditional countries of origin (Table 5.2). In other words, if the traditional countries of origin were counted as part of the continent to which they belong, they would dominate the figures to such an extent that it could easily skew the statistical analysis. By way of example, over 400,000 migrants and children of migrants in the Netherlands have Morocco as their country of origin; unless considered as part of a separate category, they would account for almost 60 percent of all persons in the Netherlands of African origin. Similarly, people with Turkey or Indonesia as their country of origin would account for over half of all migrants and the children of migrants in the Netherlands with Asian origins. When it comes to the Americas and Oceania, two-thirds would be of Surinamese or Dutch Caribbean origin. Among migrants and their children of European origin, the dominance of a small number of countries is less of a factor. Many of the twenty countries with the highest number of migrants or children of migrants in the Netherlands are European, so more than a few countries account for a significant proportion of the outcomes for Europe as a continent. For specific statistics and publications, the option of showing these or other countries separately is always available, depending on the research question.

4.2.4 Overview of classification by country of origin

The four-level classification of countries of origin, as a combination of continent and traditional countries of origin, is as follows (see also Figure 4.3):

1. The Netherlands
2. Europe (excluding the Netherlands, Turkey, Armenia and Georgia, and including Russia)
   2.1. Individual countries
3. Outside Europe
   3.1 Turkey
   3.2 Morocco
   3.3 Suriname
   3.4 The Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba)
   3.5 Indonesia
   3.6 Other – Outside Europe
   3.6.1 Other – Africa
   3.6.1.1 Individual countries
   3.6.2 Other – Asia
   3.6.2.1 Individual countries
   3.6.3 Other – Americas and Oceania
   3.6.3.1 Individual countries

4.3 Use of classification in statistics and publications

The aim is always to use classification by country of origin in as much detail as possible. However, the level of detail available depends on the number of observations. Statistics based on administrative data often have a large number of observations, enabling them to be published in greater detail. Statistics based on a small number of observations, which tends to be the case with survey data, often have to publish figures on country of origin at a less detailed level. For statistics with few observations, classification by the Netherlands, Europe, and Outside Europe can be used. When the number of observations allows, this general classification can be specified in terms of traditional countries of migration and continents outside Europe.

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.

CBS has decided to replace a system of classification based on the concepts ‘western/non-western’ and ‘first and second generation’ with a classification consisting of two main categories: ‘born in the Netherlands or abroad’ and ‘origin based on continents’. From the start of 2022, the new classification will be gradually implemented in statistics, StatLine tables and other publications.

The decision to adopt this new classification does not mean that it will be the only classification used by CBS. If warranted by the research question or more appropriate to the type of study being carried out, another classification may be used.

CBS (2012). Jaarrapport Integratie (CBS annual report on integration). The Hague/Heerlen/Aruba: Statistics Netherlands.

CBS (2016). Jaarrapport Integratie (CBS annual report on integration). The Hague/Heerlen/Aruba: Statistics Netherlands.

CBS (2021a). Article. Het gebruik van “westers – niet-westers” door het CBS [CBS use of ‘western – non-western’].

CBS (2021b). Longread. CBS afwegingskader migratie- en integratiestatistieken [CBS assessment framework for migration and integration statistics].

CBS (2021c). Article. Dialoog CBS met stakeholders: vervanging indeling westers en niet-westers [Dialogue between CBS and stakeholders: replacing western and non-western classification].

Eurostat (2021). EU legislation on the 2021 population and housing censuses.

United Nations Development Programme (2021). Human Development Index. Consulted on 16 November 2021.

UNStats (2021). Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M4). Consulted on 16 November 2021.

World Values Study (2021). Consulted on 16 November 2021.