The population of the Netherlands grew by just under 37,000 in the first six months of this year, in line with trends seen in 2024, national statistics agency CBS said on Tuesday.

More people died than were born during the period, meaning all of the growth was due to immigration. The total population now stands at 18,080,000.

In total, 141,200 people moved to the Netherlands in the first half of the year, while 95,600 left. Immigration from other EU countries continued to decline, a trend that began three years ago.

In the first half of 2023, the EU population in the Netherlands rose by more than 23,000, compared with just 7,600 this year. The size of the Polish population, for example, remained unchanged.

At the same time, the Indian population grew by only 1,000, a sharp drop from nearly 5,000 in 2022, when coronavirus travel restrictions were lifted.

The decline in arrivals from traditional “expat” countries has been reflected in figures from the Netherlands’ international arrival centres, which help newcomers with paperwork and settling in.

Just over 24,400 people used their services last year, compared with nearly 33,000 the year before. These centres are primarily used by people arriving on highly skilled migrant visas and their families, and do not represent all new arrivals.

The largest groups of new arrivals in the first half of this year came from Syria (15,500), Ukraine (5,900), and Turkey (4,900).

The right-wing Dutch government, which collapsed in June, had made reducing immigration across the board as a key part of its strategy, although no significant  measures have yet been implemented.