In 15 years, the growth of the Dutch population is not as fast – NOS

the Netherlands has in the past year nearly 111.000 inhabitants gained. It is the fastest growth in fifteen years, reports the Central Bureau for Statistics. From 2002 to 2015 was the annual population growth rate still under 100,000. The netherlands has now almost 17.1 million inhabitants.

The higher growth was due mainly to the increased immigration and decreased emigration. The net migration rate (the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants) amounted to approximately 87.000. That is considerably more than the 55,000 of the previous year.

The remaining population growth is due to the birth surplus: the number of births was approximately 24,000 higher than the number of deaths. That is approximately the same as in 2015.

Large cities are growing rapidly

Of all the churches is growing in Amsterdam and the fastest. The population of the capital rose by 15,000 to almost 850.000. Therefore, the record of 1959 in view: when, the city 872.000 inhabitants. After 1959 continued a steady decline, with a low of 675.000 inhabitants in 1985. Since then the population of Amsterdam back in the elevator.

Also the other major cities grew last year faster than average. Until 2015, was Utrecht, of the four major cities the fastest grower, but last year took Amsterdam that position.

The cities are growing mainly by immigration and the number of births, however, that relatively many inhabitants to other places to move to. The last few years, especially families that have to leave the city. They settled mostly in a suburb.

There are also some smaller municipalities who are growing rapidly, mainly due to new construction. Examples of this are Blaricum, the netherlands, Zoeterwoude, Beemster, Bloemendaal, Bunnik and Landsmeer. The municipalities of Noordenveld and Steenbergen grew remarkably with the arrival of asylum seekers.

Shrinkage by ageing

In one in five municipalities (83 of 390) took the population down, especially in the three northern provinces of the netherlands, Twente, the Achterhoek, Zeeland and Limburg. The krimpgemeenten are in a negative spiral: because they are elderly, will kill more people than are being born. And because many young people move away, is the ageing of the population has only been strengthened.