Number of residents from Central and Eastern Europe up by 11 percent

Last year, the number of citizens from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the Netherlands increased from 160 thousand to 177 thousand. Another 75 thousand CEE citizens are estimated to work in the Netherlands on temporary employment contracts, as Statistics Netherlands (CBS) announced today on the basis of a custom-made research report commissioned by the Verwey-Jonker Institute.

Six in ten CEE citizens are from Poland

On 1 January this year, 177 thousand individuals from Central and Eastern Europe belonging to the first generation were registered as residents of a Dutch municipality, i.e. an increase by 11 percent relative to one year previously. Six in ten CEE citizens in the Netherlands have a Polish background. With 108 thousand, they constitute by far the largest group, followed by Bulgarians (20 thousand) and Romanians (16 thousand).

First-generation CEE citizens in the Netherlands, 1 January

Apart from this group of CEE citizens, registered as residents of the Netherlands, there is a group of temp workers. The Migrants Monitor (Migrantenmonitor, only in Dutch) shows that this group comprised nearly 75 thousand individuals at the end of 2013.

No mass influx from Bulgaria and Romania

Since 1 January 2014, Bulgarians and Romanians no longer need an employment permit to work in the Netherlands. With an increase of 2 thousand from each country, the influx has remained stable compared to the period when an employment permit was still required. These immigrants have the intention to stay in the Netherlands for more than 4 months and are included in the population database of a Dutch municipality. An earlier CBS publication shows that the number of temp workers from these countries has also remained fairly stable.

Zundert has largest proportion of CEE citizens

The 177 thousand CEE citizens constitute 1 percent in the Dutch population. The percentage is higher in municipalities situated in agricultural and horticultural areas. With 4.4 percent, the municipality of Zundert in the province of North Brabant has the highest proportion of CEE citizens, followed by the municipalities of Zeewolde and Westland with approximately 4 percent.

Downloads