The population of the Netherlands, currently 17.4 million is set to reach 18 million by 2026, national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday.

Low growth in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic will not have a major impact on the increase in the size of the population long term, the CBS said. And by 2063, the population may have reached 20 million.

This year the population of the Netherlands will grow by 63,000, half the expected increase, as the death rate increases and migration slows.

However, the death rate may slow in 2021 because fewer people will die from coronavirus, due to both the vaccine and improved treatment, even though others may die because of delayed regular healthcare treatment, the CBS said.

The agency expects the population of the Netherlands to grow by some 100,000 in 2021.

By the end of this year, 25% of the population of the Netherlands will have a migrant background, defined by the CBS as having at least one parent who was born abroad.