Not surprisingly, the capital of the Netherlands is also its largest city. At around *******, Amsterdam has over ******* inhabitants more than the second-largest city in the country, Rotterdam. The Hague and Utrecht, the third and fourth-largest cities in the Netherlands, together have approximately as many inhabitants as Amsterdam alone. Amsterdam and the pressure on the housing market A rapidly growing city, Amsterdam’s population increased from roughly ***** thousand to around ***** thousand in the last decade. This has created pressure on the real estate market, where average rent and housing prices have skyrocketed. In the first quarter of 2010, the average rent of residential property amounted to roughly ***** euros per square meter. In the first quarter of 2021, this had increased to over ***** euros per square meter.  2030 Outlook  In the nearby future, Amsterdam is set to remain the Netherlands’ largest city. According to a recent forecast, by 2030 Amsterdam will have broken the barrier of one million inhabitants. Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht are forecast to grow too, albeit at a much lower pace. In 2030, Rotterdam is expected to reach just under ******* inhabitants.

This statistic shows the largest urban settlements in the Netherlands in 2021. In 2021, around 1.13 million people lived in Amsterdam, making it the largest city in the Netherlands. Population of the Netherlands With the global financial crisis in 2008 as well as the Euro zone crisis, many countries in Europe suffered a great economic impact. In spite of the crisis, the Netherlands maintained a stable economy over the past decade. The country's unemployment rate, for example, has been kept at a relatively low level in comparison to other countries in Europe also affected by the economic crisis. In 2014, Spain had an unemployment rate of more than 25 percent. The Netherlands' population has also seen increases in growth in comparison to previous years, with the figures slowly decreasing since 2011. As a result of the increase in population, the degree of urbanization - which is the share of the population living in urban areas - has increased, while the size of the labor force in the Netherlands has been relatively stable over the past decade. The population density of inhabitants per square kilometer in the Netherlands has also increased. Large cities in the Netherlands have experienced the impact of the population density growth and increase in the size of the labor force first hand. Three cities in the Netherlands have over half a million residents (as can be seen above). Additionally, more and more visitors are coming to the kingdom: The number of tourists in the Netherlands has increased significantly since 2001, a change which has also impacted the country's metropolises. Due to its location and affordable accommodation prices, the country’s tourism industry is developing and the largest cities in the Netherlands are taking advantage of it.

Actual value and historical data chart for Netherlands Population In Largest City

Netherlands NL: Population in Largest City data was reported at 1,123,080.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,114,536.000 Person for 2016. Netherlands NL: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 970,475.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,123,080.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 922,076.000 Person in 1983. Netherlands NL: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Netherlands – Table NL.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

Government city The Hague was the most densely populated city in the Netherlands in 2019, with a population density of nearly ***** people per square kilometer. Perhaps surprisingly, Amsterdam is not the most densely populated city in the country, ranking fourth on the list of most populous cities in the Netherlands in 2019.

We investigated the socioeconomic scaling behavior of all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants in the Netherlands and found significant superlinear scaling of the gross urban product with population size. Of these cities, 22 major cities have urban agglomerations and urban areas defined by the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics. For these major cities we investigated the superlinear scaling for three separate modalities: the cities defined as municipalities, their urban agglomerations and their urban areas. We find superlinearity with power-law exponents of around 1.15. But remarkably, both types of agglomerations underperform if we compare for the same size of population an agglomeration with a city as a municipality. In other words, an urban system as one formal municipality performs better as compared to an urban agglomeration with the same population size. This effect is larger for the second type of agglomerations, the urban areas. We think this finding has important implications for urban policy, in particular municipal reorganizations. A residual analysis suggests that cities with a municipal reorganization recently and in the past decades have a higher probability to perform better than cities without municipal restructuring.

Netherlands NL: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 7.063 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 7.087 % for 2016. Netherlands NL: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 9.364 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.659 % in 1960 and a record low of 7.063 % in 2017. Netherlands NL: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Netherlands – Table NL.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted Average;

According to this population forecast, in 2030 Amsterdam will remain the largest city in the Netherlands. It is forecast that the capital will have over *********** inhabitants in 2030. Rotterdam, currently the second-largest city in the country, will keep its spot. By 2030, the population of Rotterdam is expected to reach just under ******* people.

This horizontal bar chart displays urban population (people) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Netherlands. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

Population growth in The Netherlands by birth, death and migration by sex and region.

In addition to national data, information is presented by group of provinces, province, COROP region and municipality.

The regional totals shown concern cumulated municipal data. Where changes of municipal boundaries transect regional boundaries, the municipal classifications concerns the most recent situation. The municipality of Vianen, for example, was annexed by the province of Utrecht on 1 January 2002, and is classified under the province of Utrecht in the Table.

Data available from: 1942

Status of the figures: All data recorded in this publication are final data. Up to 1977 data may differ from other published data on StatLine. This is due to differences between the data files used by Statistics Netherlands and the official data as published in 'Loop van de bevolking per gemeente'.

Changes as of 9 July 2025: Final figures of 2024 have been added.

When will new figures be published? In the 3rd quarter of 2026 figures of 2025 will be added in this table.

This statistic shows the degree of urbanization in the Netherlands from 2013 to 2023 and details the percentage of the entire population, living in urban areas. In 2023, 93.18 percent of the total population of the Netherlands lived in cities. Population of the Netherlands The Netherlands is a developed country with a high standard of living. Owing to a fairly steady fertility rate, the total population of the Netherlands has only slightly increased over the past decade. A look at the population growth in the Netherlands shows that growth has been less than 1 percent at some points, and has even decreased to less than 0.5 percent at other intervals over the past few years. Population density in the Netherlands has increased very slightly accordingly, with the majority of the population living in cities, the largest being Amsterdam in terms of residents, closely followed by Rotterdam. The median age of the Netherlands’ population (i.e. one half of the population is older, while the other one is younger) has increased significantly since the 1980s, which is indicative of a high life expectancy among inhabitants. The Netherlands is currently ranked 16th on a ranking of the 20 countries with the highest life expectancy worldwide. The Netherlands is also among the countries with the highest GDP in the world, and is thus one of the leading economies. The majority of the workforce is employed in the services sector, generating the majority of gross domestic product. The labor force of the Netherlands consists of more than 8 million employed persons, and the unemployment rate has been increasing since the economic crisis in 2008. The crisis has also been visible in the inflation rate in the Netherlands over the past few years; on the other hand, trade balance figures show that the Dutch economy has been recovering steadily.

This statistic shows the total population of the Netherlands from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, the total population of the Netherlands was around 17.94 million people. Population of the Netherlands Despite its small size, the Netherlands is the twenty-third smallest nation in the European Union, and it is one of the most important nations in Europe and the world. The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, a member of the Group of Ten, and NATO. The total population of the Netherlands has rapidly increased over the past decade. Between 2004 and 2014, the total population increased by around 600 thousand people, currently estimated to be around 16.9 million altogether. The biggest cities in the Netherlands include Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague, with Amsterdam alone being home to almost 800 thousand residents. Among other factors, the Netherlands' increasing population is due to high life expectancy, economic growth and job opportunities. In 2011, the population of the Netherlands grew by around 0.47 percent in comparison to 2010. That same year, life expectancy at birth in the Netherlands was a little over 81 years, the highest recorded life expectancy since 2001. In addition, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands is one of the lowest unemployment rates in all of Europe.

This horizontal bar chart displays rural population (people) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Netherlands. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This dataset contains tables with stock data on the population of Amsterdam broken down into age groups, gender, nationality, migration background, household types and marital status. For figures on the population in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA), the four major cities (G4) and the Netherlands, please consult StatLine - the database of Statistics Netherlands.

Comprehensive socio-economic dataset for Caribbean Netherlands including population demographics, economic indicators, geographic data, and social statistics. This dataset covers key metrics such as GDP, population density, area, capital city, and regional classifications.

In the last decade, the population of the city of Utrecht increased by roughly 70,000. In 2009, Utrecht had approximately 300,000 inhabitants. By 2023, the number of inhabitants had grown to over 368,000. This was approximately one quarter of the total population of the province of the same name, of which the city of Utrecht is the capital. In 2021, the province of Utrecht had roughly 1.37 million inhabitants, making it the fifth-largest province in the country after South and North Holland, North Brabant and Gelderland.

 Fourth-largest city in the Netherlands   

With its 360 thousand inhabitants, Utrecht is one of the largest cities in the country. The capital, Amsterdam, is the largest city in the Netherlands, with roughly 873,000 inhabitants, followed by Rotterdam and The Hague. Utrecht follows in fourth place.

Rabobank and NS headquarters  

Utrecht is home to a large number of internationally operating companies, of which Dutch bank Rabobank is just one. One of the leading banks in the country, Rabobank had nearly 450 branches nationwide in 2018. The Rabobank headquarters are in Utrecht though, as are the headquarters of the national railway organization (NS). Utrecht also has the largest railway station in the country, receiving an average of nearly 272.8 thousand passengers every working day.

This horizontal bar chart displays individuals using the Internet (% of population) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Netherlands. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Rotterdam, Netherlands metro area from 1950 to 2025.

This bar chart displays median age (year) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Netherlands. The data is about countries per year.

Paris was Western Europe's largest city in 1650, with an estimated 400 thousand inhabitants, which is almost double it's population 150 years previously. In second place is London, with 350 thousand inhabitants, however it has grown by a substantially higher rate than Paris during this time, now seven times larger than it was in the year 1500. Naples remains in the top three largest cities, growing from 125 to 300 thousand inhabitants during this time. In the previous list, the Italian cities of Milan and Venice were the only other cities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, however in this list they have been joined by the trading centers of Lisbon and Amsterdam, the capital cities of the emerging Portuguese and Dutch maritime empires.