Flu epidemic cuts population growth, net immigration unchanged

The population of the Netherlands increased by 32,000 in the first half of 2018, the national statistics office CBS reported on Tuesday. The figure is down on the 35,000 increase in the year-earlier period.

The CBS said slowdown in population growth is due to the fact that more people died in the first six months of 2018 than in the first half of 2017. More specifically, more seniors died as a result of the flu epidemic in the first three months of the year, the CBS said.

In the first half of 2018, 82,000 babies were born, while 81,000 people died. In the 2017 period, births were at the same level but registered deaths were only 78,000.

Roughly 100,000 immigrants were registered in the first half of 2018, 2017 and 2016 while the number of people leaving the Netherlands was about 69,000, giving a net rise of 31,000.

The population of the Netherlands totaled 17.2 million at end-June 2018.