Trend Population growth continues, with wide uncertainty

Summary

Based on the latest population projection, the report expects the Dutch population to keep growing to 20.6 million in 2070, while stressing a wide band of 17.5 to 23.9 million. The growth comes almost entirely from migration, and the state commission on demography judges moderate growth to be the most favourable course for the country. Moderate growth avoids the severe labour shortages that stagnation or decline would bring, while also preserving the balance between the working population and other groups that strong growth could upset. For that reason the commission sees a need for policy that keeps growth manageable. The national welfare and living-environment outlook (WLO) adds that peripheral regions may still lose population even as the country as a whole grows.