The Netherlands experienced a notable decline in immigration last year, with Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reporting that 336,000 people immigrated, a decrease of 68,000 compared to 2022. This decline, according to the CBS, is primarily attributed to fewer Ukrainian refugees arriving in the country, while immigration from other groups remained relatively stable.
Immigration from outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries saw a significant drop of 28 percent. The total number of immigrants from these regions fell by nearly 66,000 to 165,000 in 2023, largely due to reduced arrivals from Ukraine. Specifically, 37,000 individuals utilized the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainian war refugees last year, a stark decrease from over 108,000 in 2022.
Moreover, fewer individuals from outside the EU and EFTA countries migrated to the Netherlands for employment purposes, decreasing by almost ten percent to 25,900. However, there was a contrasting trend in asylum applications, which increased by 15 percent to reach 32,000. Meanwhile, the number of knowledge migrants declined by nearly 5,000 to 21,500 in 2023, with the largest contingent originating from India (21 percent), followed by China, Turkey, and South Africa.
Similar to previous years, a majority of asylum seekers came from Syria (55 percent) in 2023. Significant numbers also arrived from Yemen and Turkey (9 percent each), predominantly under the family reunification scheme.
Last year, 41,600 immigrants from non-EU/EFTA countries joined family members already residing in the Netherlands. Among them, 7 percent were asylum seekers, 42 percent were labor migrants, and 4 percent were international students. The remaining 47 percent joined family members for reasons other than work, study, or asylum.
Immigration from EU member states and EFTA countries also saw a slight decline of 1 percent, totaling 171,200 people. Work-related immigration continued to dominate from these regions, followed by family reunification.
Meanwhile, the number of Dutch nationals returning to the Netherlands in 2023 remained consistent with figures from 2022.
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