11 May 2007

VOORBURG – More people moved to the Netherlands in the past quarter than during the same period last year, according to figures published today by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Almost 26,000 immigrants settled in the Netherlands in the past three months. That number was about 23,000 in the first quarter of 2006.

Many of these immigrants came from new EU members Bulgaria and Romania: 2,300 people, 2,000 more than in the same period last year. More Poles also settled in the Netherlands, about 2,000.  There was a decrease in the number of immigrants from Turkey and Morocco. The number of Dutch returning from living abroad rose to almost 6,000.

For the first time in a long time fewer people left the Netherlands. Some 29,000 people left the country in the past quarter, compared to 32,000 in the first quarter of 2006.

The rise in immigration and fall in emigration resulted in a net increase of 6,000 people in the first quarter.

The CBS also reports that the number of births continues to decrease. There were 44,000 children born in the first quarter, 1,000 fewer than in the same period last year.

This is the lowest quarterly birth figure in more than 20 years. The number of people who died also fell by a thousand, to 35,000. The natural population growth (births minus deaths) consequently remained the same at 9,000.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news