Dutch population density keeps rising, highest in mainland EU

The Netherlands had 539 people per square kilometre of land at the start of this year, up 15% since 2000, according to new figures by national statistics bureau CBS.

The population grew from 15.9 million to 18.1 million over the same period, and the country is now the most densely populated in the EU after Malta.

Single-person households are most common in university towns. In Wageningen they make up 63% of all households and in Groningen 61%. Delft, Maastricht and Leiden are all above 55%. In Amsterdam the figure is 55%, and in Utrecht and Eindhoven 51%.

Zuid Holland is the most crowded province, with more than 1,400 people per square kilometre, seven times as many as Drenthe at 193. Flevoland grew fastest, with density up 47% since 2000. In Limburg the figure has barely changed.

The Hague is the most densely populated city, with 6,900 people per square kilometre, ahead of Leiden (5,900) and Haarlem (5,800). Amsterdam has just under 5,000. Rotterdam ranks lower because its municipality includes the port, which covers 12.5 hectares of land and water and is over 40 kilometres long.

The government’s latest forecast puts the national housing shortage at 4.6%, or 384,000 homes. It expects the number of households to rise to 9.3 million by 2041. Successive cabinets have set plans to build 100,000 new homes per year, but the targets have never been met.