In 2023, the Faroe Islands was the European country estimated to have the highest fertility rate. The small Atlantic island state had a fertility rate of 2.71 children per woman. Other small countries such as Monaco and Gibraltar also came towards the top of the list for 2023, while the large country with the highest fertility rate was France, with 1.79 children per woman. On the other hand, Andorra, San Marino, and Malta had the lowest fertility rates in Europe, with Ukraine, Spain, and Italy being the largest countries with low fertility rates in that year, averaging around 1.3 children per woman.

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country will have throughout their reproductive years. Between 1840 and 1855 the fertility rate of the Netherlands fell from 5.1 to 4.7, before rising again to 5.4. This is the highest ever recorded rate of fertility in the Netherlands, as after this the number dropped gradually until 1940, where it was just 2.6 children per woman. From the early 1940s (which was slightly earlier than most other Western European countries) until the late 1960s, the Netherlands experienced its 'baby boom', before the fertility rate dropped to 1.5 in 1985. Since 1985, the fertility rate has remained relatively constant, staying between 1.5 and 1.8 children per woman in this 35 year period.

The World Fertility Survey (WFS) was designed by the International Statistical Institute in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) in the early 1970s. The programme aimed to collect and analyse information to permit countries to “describe and interpret the fertility of their population”. The WFS was implemented with two core questionnaires: one aimed at developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America with high fertility and low contraceptive use and another devised to be applied in developed countries in Europe and North‐America with low fertility and high contraceptive use. The micro‐data collected in the 42 developing countries and Portugal are archived and accessible through the Demographic Health Survey (https://wfs.dhsprogram.com/). The micro‐data collected in the 20 developed countries are not centrally archived. In 2020, the Generations and Gender Programme received funding from the Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) for the project "International Microdata for Reproductive Studies – promoting and facilitating the use of forgotten and underused fertility and family planning surveys". As part of this project some micro-data collected in developed countries was retraced and archived at DANS.

This package contains micro-data of France, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Great Britain.

Individual-level data access is provided via www.ggp-i.org

The most important key figures about population, households, birth, mortality, changes of residence, marriages, marriage dissolutions and change of nationality of the Dutch population. Data available from: 1899 Status of the figures: All data in this publication are final data. Changes as of 9 april 2021: The figures for the period 1987 to 1994 with regard to 'Emigration including the balance of the administrative corrections' have been corrected. The correction is due to duplications present in some of our source files. The differences are minimal. The figures for 1997 with regard to Emigration, including the balance of the administrative corrections for persons with nationality 'European Union (excluding the Netherlands)', and persons with country of birth 'European Union (excluding the Netherlands)' have been corrected. The correction is due to a calculation error. The topics 'Live born children, relative' and 'Sex ratio' have switched places. Changes as of 24 March 2020: The table has been revised. The following changes have been made: Population on January 1: - The number of 'Women' in 2012 has been corrected. - The figures for 'Migration background Suriname' and 'Migration background (former) Netherlands Antilles' have been changed for 1971 up to and including 1994. The changes are the result of a method change in the past, which was not reflected in the table at the time. The figures now match all other sections of StatLine. Population development: 'Emigration' has been changed to 'Emigration including administrative corrections', 'Migration balance' has been changed to 'Migration balance including administrative corrections'. Figures on emigration, including the balance of administrative corrections, provide a better picture of actual emigration than figures on emigration excluding these corrections. Due to the change, the figures for 1977 up to and including 2016 have changed. Live born children: The 2015 figures for 'Live born children from mothers aged 25 to 29, relative' and 'Live born children from mothers aged 30 or older, relative' have been adjusted. Mortality: - The figures for 'Life expectancy at birth: men' and 'Life expectancy at birth: women' for 1950 up to and including 1962, 1972, 1982, 1991, 1999, 2009 and 2011 have been corrected. - The figures for 'Mortality <1 year after birth, relative' for 1994 and 2011 have been corrected. - The figure for 'Mortality <1 year after birth, relative' for 2011 has been corrected. - The figures for 'Deceased by cause of death' have been removed from the table. (For more information: 3. LINKS TO RELEVANT TABLES AND ARTICLES). Foreign migration by nationality: - Various topics related to 'Emigration including administrative corrections' have been added. - 'Total immigration' has been corrected for 1993 and 1996. - 'Immigration, European Union (excluding the Netherlands)' has been adjusted for 2004 and 2013. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Dutch' has been corrected for 1995 and 2012. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Total non-Dutch' has been corrected for 1995 and 2012. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, European Union' has been adjusted for 2004, 2005 and 2013. Foreign migration by country of birth: - Various topics related to 'Emigration including administrative corrections' have been added. - 'Total immigration' has been corrected for 1993 and 1996. - 'Immigration, European Union (excluding the Netherlands)' has been adjusted for 1987 up to and including 1990 and for 2004. - 'Immigration, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2012. - 'Immigration, Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2012. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, European Union (excluding the Netherlands)' has been adjusted for 1989, 1999 and 2004. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Indonesia' has been corrected for 1994. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 1997. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 1997. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Specific emigration areas' has been corrected for 1995. Foreign migration by country of origin / destination: - 'Total immigration' has been corrected for 1996. - 'Immigration, European Union (excluding the Netherlands)' has been adjusted for 2004. - 'Immigration, Indonesia, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2007 and 2010 up to and including 2016. - 'Immigration, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2010 up to and including 2016. - 'Immigration, Indonesia' has been corrected for 2013. - 'Immigration, Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2010 up to and including 2016. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, European Union (excluding the Netherlands)' has been adjusted for 1998 and 2004. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Indonesia, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2010 up to and including 2016. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Suriname and Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2010 up to and including 2016. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Netherlands Antilles' has been corrected for 2010 up to and including 2016. - 'Emigration excluding administrative corrections, Turkey' has been corrected for 2012. The corrections are the result of manual actions. The differences concern rounding differences and are minimal. The adjustments with regard to the European Union are generally the result of a changed calculation method. When will the new figures be published? The figures for the population development in 2019 and the population on 1 January 2020 will be published in the first quarter of 2021.

In 2022, the share of births to teenage mothers in the European Union was below two percent. In the European region as a whole, this share was nearly 3.2 percent. The wider European region always recorded a higher rate of teenage births than the EU. Since the 1980s, births to adolescent mothers have declined nearly year-on-year in Europe. Which countries had high teenage birth rates? Nearly ten percent of live births in Bulgaria were attributed to mothers under below the age of 20 in 2021. This was the highest share of births to teenage mothers in the European Union, followed by Romania and Slovakia. On the other hand, less than 0.5 percent of births in Norway, the Netherlands, and Switzerland were to teenagers. Mean age of women at first birth Alongside the decline in teenage births, the average age of women giving birth in Europe has increased. In the mid-1980s, the average childbearing age in Europe stood around 26 years. By 2022, this had risen to over 30 years. This reflects societal changes in which women are waiting longer to have children, reasons which include better access to contraception and greater bodily autonomy. When looking at countries specifically, Ireland and Spain were among the countries with the highest average age of mothers in Europe.

This table contains figures on deceased persons among the population of the Netherlands, with the most important characteristics being their country of origin and country of birth. In addition, the figures can be further broken down by gender and age. Statistics Netherlands is switching to a new division of the population by origin. From now on, it will be more important where someone was born, and less important where someone's parents were born. The word migration background is no longer used. The main division western/non-western is replaced by a division based on continents and common immigration countries. This classification is gradually being introduced in tables and publications with population by origin. Data available from: 2021 Status of the figures: The figures in this table are final. Changes as of August 25, 2023: Figures for 2022 have been added. Changes as of December 27, 2022: None, this is a new table. This table is the successor to the discontinued table 'Deceased; gender, age, migration background and generation;1995-2021'. See section 3. The following changes compared to the discontinued table have been implemented: - The 'Migration background' tab has been replaced by 'Country of origin'; - The countries of origin Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey have been assigned to continent Asia (formerly Europe); - The 'Generation' tab has been replaced by 'Country of Birth'; - The individual ages now run up to and including '105 years or older'; - The five-year age groups now extend up to and including '100 years or older'. When will new figures be available? For the time being, only data from 2021 is available in the table. The periods 1995 to 2020 will be added to the table at a later date. The final figures for 2023 will be added to the table in the 3rd quarter of 2024.

This table contains figures on immigration and emigration of persons to and from the Netherlands. The emigration figures include the balance of administrative corrections. Figures on emigration including the balance of the administrative corrections give a better picture of actual emigration than figures on emigration excluding these corrections. The figures on administrative corrections (administrative additions and administrative removals) are also included in the table. The data is broken down by gender, age, country of birth and region. In this table, the data regarding immigration from a country is available if 2500 or more people immigrate to the Netherlands, at any time period in this table. The regions included in the table are parts of the country, provinces, COROP areas and municipalities. The regional totals presented are aggregates of municipalities. In case of border changes that cross several regional borders, the classification of the municipalities is grouped according to the most recent situation. Data available from 2010 to 2021. Status of the figures: All figures included in the table are final. Changes as of May 4, 2023: None, this table has been discontinued. When will new numbers come out? Not applicable anymore. This table is followed by 'Immigration and emigration; gender, age, country of birth, region. See section 3.

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.

In the year 1800, the population of the region which makes up the present-day Netherlands was approximately two million people. The beginning of the 19th century was a tumultuous time in Dutch history, as the region had recently been annexed by Revolutionary France; however the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was eventually established in 1815 (which also included present-day Belgium and Luxembourg) and a period of economic growth, modernization and high quality of life followed. In spite of this economic prosperity, religious tensions between the predominantly Catholic south and Protestant north led to a split in the kingdom in 1839, where it was eventually partitioned into Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, along borders very similar to today's. Rapid modernization and liberalization continued throughout the 19th century, and in 1900 the population of the Netherlands was over five million people.

Early 20th century The Netherlands was free to continue economic expansion, both in the metropole and in its colonies, uninterrupted for much of the first half of the 20th century (partly facilitated by its neutrality in the First World War). This resulted in a steady rise in population, which doubled to ten million within half a century. Population growth would even continue throughout the Second World War, as the Netherlands would be spared from much of the casualty-heavy conflicts seen in neighboring countries; however, most estimates concur that approximately 210,000 Dutch people died as a result of the war, half of which were Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The war also saw the end of Dutch colonization in the East Indies, as Japan annexed the region of present-day Indonesia in 1942; although the Dutch tried to re-colonize the region after the war, Indonesia became an officially recognized independent nation in 1949.

Netherlands today Population growth in the Netherlands would continue largely uninterrupted in the post-war years, until the 1970s, when it began to slow as Western Europe experienced periods of recession and high unemployment. Improvements in contraceptives and education also saw birth rates fall at their fastest ever rates in the 1970s. Following the recovery of the Dutch economy in the 1990s, population growth would resume once more, continuing steadily into the 21th century. In 2020, the Netherlands is estimated to have a population of just over 17 million people, making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. For its size, the Netherlands has one of the strongest economies globally, and often ranks among the highest in terms of development, freedom and quality of life.

Among all countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Turkey, followed by Korea, had the highest rate of Caesarean section births (or C-sections) in 2022. At that time, the rate of C-sections in Turkey was roughly 600 per 1,000 live births. Among global regions, Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest percentage of births that were delivered by C-section, while sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest rates of Cesarean section births. Cesarean section costs A Cesarean section is a form of birth where the baby is taken out through a surgical incision in the abdomen rather than a natural vaginal birth. The cost of a Cesarean section delivery varies globally, with the United States having the highest cost globally for Cesarean section deliveries, while Germany the lowest cost among selected countries worldwide. In the United States, C-sections are significantly more expensive than a delivery by vaginal birth. High C-sections rates in the U.S. Over the past 20 years the C-section rate in the U.S. has gradually been increasing with more stable trends in the past few years. It has been reported that many of the C-sections performed in the U.S. are elective and not necessary. Often, the risks of C-sections are greater than the benefits, when performed as an elective procedure. Therefore, the United States has a "healthy people target" for the c-section rate of first time, low-risk mothers. However, less than half of hospitals are meeting the national targets for Cesarean sections performed.

As of 2022, Czechia had the highest share in Europe of women aged 15 to 49 years using the birth control pill, with over 54 percent using this form of contraception. Additionally, Netherlands had a high level of contraceptive pill use at 49 percent. In the Balkans there is low usage of the birth control pill with less than two percent of women using the pill in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.