According to the latest projections published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the population of the Netherlands is growing faster than initially expected, and is now set to reach the 20 million mark by 2056. 

18 million people living in the Netherlands by 2024

While last year CBS predicted that the Netherlands would reach the 20 million mark by 2061, the statistics office’s latest forecasts suggest this will happen five years earlier than expected, and that, by 2070, the country will have a population of 20,7 million people. 

This year, the population of the Netherlands had grown to 17,8 million people by October, and CBS expects that, by 2024, the country will reach 18 million people - something that a few years ago was only forecast to happen in 2026.

The makeup of the country’s population is also expected to change; while over-65s currently make up around 20 percent of the population, this figure is due to increase to 25 percent by 2040. The number of people over the age of 80 is expected to double to 1,7 million over the next 20 years. The proportion of the population aged 20 to 65 is projected to fall from 59 percent at the end of 2021 to 53 percent by 2070.

Population of the Netherlands growing faster than expected

In the CBS Population Forecast for 2022 to 2070, CBS writes that the population of the Netherlands will continue to grow over the next 50 years, with the growth rate expected to be relatively high over the coming years before slowing down again.

According to CBS, the reason for the rapid growth between 2022 and 2026 is likely to be high levels of migration. In the immediate future, the number of babies born will also continue to outnumber the number of deaths registered in the Netherlands - but the death rate is expected to rise from 2025.