Fewer new expats: coronavirus halves Dutch immigration

Dutchies in and foreigners out — that’s the result of coronavirus on Dutch migration. New data from the Statistics Netherlands shows in the weeks since the intelligent lockdown, fewer immigrants registered with a Dutch municipality. 

Here’s a recipe: take the closed borders of the Netherlands, and add it to outside countries blocking migration. Then mix it all together with international air traffic coming to a near standstill, and what do you get?

Hugely reduced immigration.

Before coronavirus reared its ugly head, around 5,200 people registered in the Netherlands each week. Since mid-March, that number has fallen rapidly to just 2,200. Non-EU nationals represent the sharpest drop, going from 2,500 per week to just a little over 700.

Image: CBS

Who’s leaving and who’s coming back?

The second-largest group of migrants to the Netherlands are normally people from India — but they’ve had a huge decline. While there are normally 220 Indian immigrants per week, now there are just 40 per week on average.

Meanwhile, only a thousand EU citizens continue to register in the Netherlands on a weekly basis, a decline from 2,300 normally.

But coronavirus did have one other effect: thousands of native Dutchies have flocked back home, around an extra 100 per week than average.

Did coronavirus stop or speed up your migration plans? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺https://gallivantations.com
Sam has over six years experience writing about life in the Netherlands and leads the content team at DutchReview. She originally came to the Netherlands to study in 2016 and now holds a BA (Hons.) in Arts, a BA (Hons) in Journalism, and (almost) a Masters in Teaching. She loves to write about settling into life in the Netherlands, her city of Utrecht, learning Dutch, and jobs in the Netherlands — and she still can’t jump on the back of a moving bike (she's learning!).

1 COMMENT

  1. I was in the process of having my Inburgering exam to start the process to get the family reunion visa ☹️ and now I have to wait until I can make the exam again in Mexico city and then wait for my results and then apply for the visa 😢 it will take a while.

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