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Life expectancy at birth, 2021: 81.4 years
Share of the population aged 65 and over, 2021: 19.7%
Share of the population aged 65 and over, 2050: 24.8%
Share of the population aged 80 and over, 2021: 4.8%
Share of the population aged 80 and over, 2050: 10.3%

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

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Population, 2021: 17,502,000
Annual Population Growth Rate, 2020-2030 (%): 0.3%
Life Expectancy at Birth, 2021: 82
Share of Urban Population, 2021: 93%
Annual Growth Rate of Urban Population, 2020-2030 (%): 0.5%

Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2023: For every child, vaccination, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, April 2023.

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Population, Midyear 2022: 17,564,014
Population Density (Number of Persons per Square Kilometer): 521.64
Life Expectancy at Birth, 2022: 82.45
Projected Population, Midyear 2030: 17,943,803
Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2022: 20.31%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2030: 23.86%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2050: 27.16%

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2023). Data Portal, custom data acquired via website. United Nations: New York. Accessed 12 May 2023.

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“The Netherlands is situated in western Europe where the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt flow into the North Sea. The coastal lowlands and areas of reclaimed land in the west dominate the image of the country abroad, but the eastern and southeastern parts are more hilly. To the east, the Netherlands is bordered by Germany and to the south by Belgium (see Fig. 1.1). The moderate maritime climate brings cool summers and mild winters. With an area of 41 543 km2, of which almost 20% is water, the Netherlands is a relatively small country, but its population of almost 17 million makes it very densely populated (Statistics Netherlands, 2015a).

“Among the 21% of the population in 2014 whose parents were born outside the Netherlands, a small majority are non-western immigrants, especially people from the Antilles and Aruba, Morocco, Surinam and Turkey. Most frequently occurring religions in 2014 were Roman Catholic (26%), Dutch Reformed (7%), Calvinist (6%), Dutch Protestant (5%) and Muslim (5%) (Statistics Netherlands 2015a). Regular (at least monthly) attendance at a church or other religious service has dropped remarkably over the past decades, from 37% in 1971 to 17% in 2012.

“Important demographic trends are ageing and decreasing growth of the population and urbanization. Since the 1980s the proportion of children has steadily decreased, while the proportion of seniors increased (see Table 1.1). In the same period the annual population growth fell strongly to 0.3% in 2014, which is half the average growth among high-income OECD countries. While in 1980 35% of the population still lived in rural areas, this figure has dropped to 10% in 2014, which is also below the average of 20% among high-income OECD countries (World Bank, 2015).”

Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated August 8, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.