The population of the Netherlands grew to 17.9 million in the first nine months of this year, but the number of deaths outstripped the number of births.

“Just” 123,400 children were born between January and the end of September, and that is down 3,400 from a year ago. But 124,300 people died, meaning the population, excluding immigration, actually went down and that is ‘exceptional”, the CBS said.

The birth rate has been declining in the Netherlands since 2010.

Population growth was down entirely to immigration, which totalled 111,600 during the period. That is down 76,400 on the same period in 2022, when 85,500 Ukrainians came to the Netherlands following the Russian invasion.

However, the CBS said, immigration is down across all population groups, with the number of Europeans arriving down by 5,400 and 2,000 fewer new arrivals from Asia.

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Excluding 19,000 new arrivals from Ukraine, the biggest population groups to move to the Netherlands in the first nine months came from Syria (13,000), Turkey (8,400), India (6,700) and Poland (6,600). Some 3,300 British nationals also moved here.