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.
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Netherlands Population: 80 Years and Over data was reported at 779.000 Person th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 764.000 Person th for 2016. Netherlands Population: 80 Years and Over data is updated yearly, averaging 148.000 Person th from Dec 1899 (Median) to 2017, with 119 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 779.000 Person th in 2017 and a record low of 35.000 Person th in 1900. Netherlands Population: 80 Years and Over data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistics Netherlands. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Netherlands – Table NL.G001: Population: Annual.
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The most important key figures about population, households, birth, mortality, changes of residence, marriages, marriage dissolutions and change of nationality of the Dutch population.
CBS is in transition towards a new classification of the population by origin. Greater emphasis is now placed on where a person was born, aside from where that person’s parents were born. The term ‘migration background’ is no longer used in this regard. The main categories western/non-western are being replaced by categories based on continents and a few countries that share a specific migration history with the Netherlands. The new classification is being implemented gradually in tables and publications on population by origin.
Data available from 1899 to 2019.
Status of the figures: All data in this publication are final data.
Changes as of 15 December 2023: None, this table was discontinued.
When will the new figures be published? No longer applicable. This table is succeeded by the table 'Population, households and population dynamics; from 1899'. See section 3.
In 1800, the population of Indonesia was estimated to be approximately 16 million. The population of the island nation would grow steadily over the course of the 19th century, as the Dutch colonial administration launched several initiatives to modernize the region. After reaching 38 million people in 1900, the population of Indonesia would continue to grow until the 1940’s, when the Japanese occupation of the country would see between four to ten million Indonesians moved away from the island nation to be made to work on Japanese military projects, and in combination with wartime famine, this would result in the death or displacement of up to four million Indonesians by the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945. Despite this, Indonesia's population continued to grow throughout these years.
Following the Second World War, Indonesia claimed its independence from the Netherlands, and achieved this in 1949. In the second half of the 20thcentury, the population would continue to grow exponentially in size through the remainder of the 20th century, although the growth rate would slow somewhat in the 1980s, the result of a decline in fertility rate throughout the country which some studies suggest may be attributed to improved access to birth control and improved mass education. In 2020, Indonesia is estimated to have just over 273.5 million people living within its borders, making it the fourth most populous country in the world (behind the U.S. and above Pakistan).
The government expenditure on (pre-)primary education in the Netherlands was modeled to amount to 16.65 billion euros in 2023. Between 1900 and 2023, the expenditure rose by 16.64 billion euros, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.
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This table presents a wide variety of historical data in the field of health, lifestyle and health care. Figures on births and mortality, causes of death and the occurrence of certain infectious diseases are available from 1900, other series from later dates. In addition to self-perceived health, the table contains figures on infectious diseases, hospitalisations per diagnosis, life expectancy, lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity, and causes of death. The table also gives information on several aspects of health care, such as the number of practising professionals, the number of available hospital beds, nursing day averages and the expenditures on care. Many subjects are also covered in more detail by data in other tables, although sometimes with a shorter history. Data on notifiable infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS are not included in other tables.
Data available from: 1900
Status of the figures:
2025: The available figures are definite.
2024: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, hiv, aids; - causes of death.
2023: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; - diagnoses at hospital admissions; - number of hospital discharges and length of stay; - number of hospital beds; - health professions; - perinatal and infant mortality. Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.
2022: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; - diagnoses at hospital admissions; - number of hospital discharges and length of stay; - number of hospital beds; - health professions. Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.
2021: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.
2020 and earlier: Most available figures are definite. Due to 'dynamic' registrations, figures for notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS remain provisional.
Changes as of 4 July 2025: The most recent available figures have been added for: - population on January 1; - live born children, deaths; - persons in (very) good health; - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; - diagnoses at hospital admissions; - use of medication; - sickness absence; - lifestyle; - use of health care services; - number of hospital discharges and length of stay; - number of hospital beds; - health professions; - expenditures on health and welfare; - healthy life expectancy; - causes of death.
Changes as of 18 december 2024: - Due to a revision of the statistics Health and welfare expenditure 2021, figures for expenditure on health and welfare have been replaced from 2021 onwards. - Revised figures on the volume index of healthcare costs are not yet available, these figures have been deleted from 2021 onwards.
When will new figures be published? December 2025.
The state of Belgium owes its name to Julius Caesar, who used the name "Belgium" to refer to the region in his narrative "The Gallic Wars". After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region emerged as a cosmopolitan trading center, and was a collection of smaller duchies and states (such as Flanders and Brabant), before modern history saw control of the region pass between France, the Netherlands and (to a lesser extent) Spain. Modern day Belgium emerged in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution when it gained independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Throughout this time, the Belgian region was the setting of many conflicts between other European powers, which greatly affected the population development and demography of the area. From 1800 until the First world War, the population of Belgium grew steadily, and more than doubled in the nineteenth century. The World Wars Population growth stagnated in the 1910s, as a result of World War I and the Spanish Flu epidemic. Belgium was one of the focal points of military action in the war, and many military personnel from other nations also lost their lives here during the conflict. Much of the Second World War also took place in Belgium, and although it remained neutral at the outbreak of both wars, it was invaded twice by Germany due to its strategic importance. Belgium suffered an estimated 88,000 fatalities during the war; with many further military fatalities from other nations also perishing in the region. Continuous growth From 1950 onwards, Belgium's population grows at a relatively consistent rate, to more than ten million people the year 2000. Since the turn of the millennium, a positive net migration rate and higher life expectancy has meant that Belgium's population has grown even faster rate than in the twentieth century. Today, Belgium has a very high standard of living, and the capital city of Brussels is home to the headquarters of many international institutions, particularly the European Union.
In the year 1500, the share of Western Europe's population living in urban areas was just six percent, but this rose to 31 percent by the end of the 19th century. Despite this drastic change, development was quite slow between 1500 and 1800, and it was not until the industrial revolution when there was a spike in urbanization. As Britain was the first region to undergo the industrial revolution, from around the 1760s until the 1840s, these areas were the most urbanized in Europe by 1890. The Low Countries Prior to the 19th century, Belgium and the Netherlands had been the most urbanized regions due to the legacy of their proto-industrial areas in the medieval period, and then the growth of their port cities during the Netherlands' empirical expansion (Belgium was a part of the Netherlands until the 1830s). Belgium was also quick to industrialize in the 1800s, and saw faster development than its larger, more economically powerful neighbors, France and Germany. Least-urban areas Ireland was the only Western European region with virtually no urbanization in the 16th and 17th century, but the industrial growth of Belfast and Dublin (then major port cities of the British Empire) saw this change by the late-1800s. The region of Scandinavia was the least-urbanized area in Western Europe by 1890, but it saw rapid economic growth in Europe during the first half of the following century.
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This table contains projections (2012-2060) of the immigrant population in the Netherlands, live births of first-generation mothers, foreign migration of first-generation immigrants and the number of deaths of first- and second-generation immigrants in the Netherlands. All figures are also broken down by origin group (Western and non-Western). Data available: 2012-2060 Status of the figures: The figures in this table are calculated forecast figures. Changes as of December 13, 2012. In this new table, the previous forecast has been adjusted based on the most recent insights, the forecast period now runs from 2012 to 2060. Changes as of December 16, 2014. Discontinued. When will new numbers come out? In December 2014, the new forecast figures will be published in a new table.
In 2023, around 1.39 million inhabitants lived in the Dutch province of Utrecht, of which the largest group of people was 30 to 35 years old with 100,000 citizens. There were around 1,900 people aged 95 years or older.
It is estimated that Europe had an urbanization rate of approximately 8.5 percent in the year 1800. The Netherlands and Belgium were some of the most heavily urbanized regions, due the growth of port cities such as Rotterdam and Antwerp during Netherlands' empirical expansion, and the legacy of urbanization in the region, which stems from its wool and craft industries in medieval times. Additionally, the decline of their agricultural sectors and smaller territories contributed to a lower rural population. Scotland and England had also become more urban throughout the British Empire's growth, although the agricultural revolution of the previous two centuries, along with the first industrial revolution, then led to more rapid urbanization during the 19th century. In contrast, there was a large imbalance between the east and west of the continent; the two largest empires, Austria and Russia, had the lowest levels of urbanization in Europe in 1800, due to their vast territories, lower maritime presence, and lack of industrial development.
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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.