The population of the Netherlands grew by 191,000 in the first nine months of this year, but a large proportion of that is down to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The increase, however temporary, takes the population of the Netherlands to 17.8 million, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday.

In total 318,000 people moved to the Netherlands last year, of whom 97,000 came from Ukraine, and almost 130,000 people left the country.

Without Ukrainian refugees, the population would have grown by 102,500 – some 22,000 up on 2021 when coronavirus restrictions were in place.

Immigration from other European countries accounted for 47,000 of the increase, as 90,000 people arrived and 53,000 left. Net immigration from Asia was 49,000, and from Africa and North America 14,000.

The CBS said the number of immigrants from Asia fell sharply during the coronavirus years but is now picking up again. ‘The number of people from Asia leaving in the third quarter was greater than in 2021,’ the agency said.

The impact of birth and death rates on population growth is marginal, the CBS said, with births outstripping deaths by 2,500.