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Contents
In brief

The country
- 3
18.1 million people, among the EU's richest per head
- 4
Deaths outnumber births, arrivals drive all growth

Where the market is now
- 5
Permits have fallen every year since 2022
- 6
Below the EU rate, and now below Germany
- 7
India leads, the United States second, China third
- 8
India's permits fell from 7,034 in 2022 to 3,419 in 2025
- 9
Steady rules, 6,770 fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041

The outlook
- 10
About 20,600 permits in 2026, between 12,800 and 31,300
- 11
Origin shares held, and the drivers beside the lines
- 11
What could change this

Method and sources
- 12
How to read this report
- 12
Sources, photographs and flags
Cover: Canal houses on the Damrak in Amsterdam at blue hour. Photograph by Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The Netherlands issued 20,673 first residence permits for work in 2025 to citizens of countries outside the EU, 11.7 percent fewer than in 2024 and 35.6 percent below the 32,123 of 2022. That is 2.0 for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64, against 4.9 across the EU and 2.2 in Germany. The rules are holding; the count fell for a third year. India was the largest origin with 3,419 permits; the seven sourcing centres received 4,464. Our estimate is about 20,600 permits in 2026, between 12,800 and 31,300; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is flat. Held flat, a stated assumption, the count is 20,600 a year in 2031 and in 2036.
First residence permits for work issued in 2025, down 11.7 percent on 2024
Permits in 2026, between 12,800 and 31,300
Permits a year in 2031, held flat, a stated assumption
Fewer people aged 20 to 64 in 2041 than in 2026
18.1 million people, among the EU's richest per head
The Netherlands has 18.13 million people, 1,229,482 more than in 2015. Since 2022 more people die than are born, 173,494 deaths against 164,870 births in 2025, and people moving in account for all of the growth. Output per head is 155 percent of the EU average, and 83.4 percent of people aged 20 to 64 are in work. On Eurostat's 2025 projection their number barely changes by 2041.

People living in the Netherlands on 1 January 2026
7.3 percent more than in 2015, and 4.0 percent of the EU's 452.0 million. People aged 65 and over were 20.8 percent of the population in 2025.
GDP in 2025, billion euro at current prices
6.2 percent of the EU economy.
GDP per head in 2025
155 percent of the EU average of 41,700 euro in 2025. Counting higher prices at home, 133 percent, up from 132 percent in 2015.
Real growth in 2025
Against 1.4 percent across the EU. Over 2021 to 2025 the economy grew 14.0 percent in all, the EU grew 13.7 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).
People aged 20 to 64 in work, 2025
Against 76.1 percent across the EU.
Salary floor and single permit
Sources: Eurostat, demo_gind (population, updated 21 July 2026), nama_10_gdp and nama_10_pc (GDP, updated 21 September 2026), tec00114 (price adjusted GDP per head), tec00115 (growth), lfsi_emp_a (employment), demo_pjanbroad (age). All retrieved 27 September 2026. Figures for 2025 GDP, GDP per head and growth are provisional. Key dates: Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), required amounts 2026; EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2024/1233, Article 28; retrieved 28 September 2026.
Deaths outnumber births, arrivals drive all growth
Since 2022 deaths outnumber births, and net migration of 94,805 in 2025 more than fills the gap
In 2025, 173,494 people died and 164,870 were born. Net migration added 94,805, so the population grew by 86,181.
Source: Eurostat, demo_gind (updated 21 July 2026), migr_imm1ctz and migr_emi1ctz (moves of a year or more), retrieved 27 September 2026. Net migration includes Eurostat's statistical adjustment. Not published: moves in and out for 2025.
About 18.95 million people by 2041 on Eurostat's projection
Observed to 2026, then Eurostat's 2025 projection in the lighter line.
Source: Eurostat, demo_gind (observed, updated 21 July 2026) and proj_25np (EUROPOP2025 baseline and migration tests, updated 11 June 2026), retrieved 27 September 2026.
The share aged 65 and over rises to 25%
Source: Eurostat, demo_pjanbroad (2025) and proj_25np (2041), retrieved 27 September 2026.
1,170.6 billion euro in 2025, and the IMF forecast to 2031
Real growth under each year: observed to 2025 (Eurostat, tec00115), the IMF forecast after. Sources: Eurostat, nama_10_gdp (2025 provisional); IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Werklist calculation: the other years are the 2025 value moved by the real growth rates; retrieved 27 September 2026.
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ReportsPermits have fallen every year since 2022
After the 2022 peak, permits fell three years running, by 35.6 percent in all
The Netherlands issued 20,673 first residence permits for work in 2025, against 23,415 in 2024 and 22,030 in 2019.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
A first residence permit for work is the first residence permit of 3 months or more a citizen of a country outside the EU receives to work in the Netherlands: the highly skilled migrant permit, the single permit (GVVA), the EU Blue Card and others. Renewals are not counted.
Three in four permits issued in 2025 run for a year or more
The share valid for 12 months or more: 83.1 percent in 2019, 73.7 percent in 2025.
Share of permits valid for 12 months or more
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by length of validity, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Eurostat's count and the national count, 2025
First residence permits for work, Eurostat, 2025
Arrivals from outside the EU and EFTA with work as their motive, Statistics Netherlands, 2025
Of these, on a highly skilled migrant permit, Statistics Netherlands, 2025
Statistics Netherlands counts arrivals who register as residents, by the motive of the permit they hold, so permits whose holders do not register are left out.
Sources: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, updated 11 September 2026; Statistics Netherlands (CBS), table 84809NED, modified 30 June 2026; retrieved 27 and 28 September 2026.
Below the EU rate, and now below Germany
First residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64
The first residence permits for work a country issues in a year, divided by the residents aged 20 to 64 living there on 1 January of that year. These are first permits only, as Eurostat counts them.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst (first residence permits for employment) and demo_pjangroup (residents aged 20 to 64 on 1 January), reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026 and 25 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation. The EU line: migr_resfirst and demo_pjangroup for the 27 EU countries (residents aged 20 to 64 in 2024 summed from single years of age, demo_pjan).
Per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, by length of permit
| EU | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| All lengths | 2.0 | 2.2 | 4.9 |
| 12 months or more | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3.6 |
| 3 to 11 months | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.3 |
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by length of validity and demo_pjangroup, 2025, retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation.
The Netherlands issued 2.0 first residence permits for work per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, down from 3.1 in 2022 and below the EU rate of 4.9. Germany rose to 2.2 in 2025 from 1.6 in 2024, after new rules for skilled staff took effect in steps from November 2023; the data show the timing, not the cause. On permits of a year or more the Netherlands issues 1.4 and Germany 1.7.
How Germany opened its rules
Sources: Federal Law Gazette 2023 I No. 217, Article 12; Employment Ordinance, section 26, and Residence Act, section 20a, gesetze-im-internet.de; retrieved 28 September 2026.
India leads, the United States second, China third
India received 3,419 permits in 2025, 16.7 percent fewer than in 2024, the United States 2,294 and China 1,968, down from 3,146. The seven sourcing centres received 4,464, or 21.6 percent: India 3,419, the Philippines 450, Indonesia 286, Bangladesh 129, Vietnam 82, Uzbekistan 69 and Nepal 29.
| Citizenship | Permits 2024 | Permits 2025 | Share 2024 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,105 | 3,419 | 17.5% | 16.5% | |
| 1,974 | 2,294 | 8.4% | 11.1% | |
| 3,146 | 1,968 | 13.4% | 9.5% | |
| 1,730 | 1,331 | 7.4% | 6.4% | |
| 1,303 | 1,218 | 5.6% | 5.9% | |
| 1,422 | 1,194 | 6.1% | 5.8% | |
| 924 | 1,033 | 3.9% | 5.0% | |
| 782 | 666 | 3.3% | 3.2% | |
| 666 | 621 | 2.8% | 3.0% | |
| 580 | 518 | 2.5% | 2.5% | |
| Other origins | 6,783 | 6,411 | 29.0% | 31.0% |
| All origins | 23,415 | 20,673 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference years 2024 and 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
India alone received 16.5% of the permits issued in 2025
Shares of the first residence permits for work issued in 2025, by citizenship.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference year 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
The seven centres received 4,464 of the 20,673 permits; of the peers shown, only Ireland's share is larger
Permits for citizens of the seven sourcing centres (Nepal, India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan) in 2025, against all first residence permits for work. Shares: the Netherlands 21.6 percent, Germany 16.1, France 8.8, Ireland 39.3 and Switzerland 18.3.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference year 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
India's permits fell from 7,034 in 2022 to 3,419 in 2025
First residence permits for work by citizenship, 2019 to 2025
India kept the first place in 2025. Permits for China fell from 3,146 in 2024 to 1,968, while the United States rose to 2,294 and Ukraine to 1,033. Other origins fell from 11,335 in 2022 to 6,505.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, by citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
The seven sourcing centres in 2025: India 3,419 permits, the Philippines 450, Indonesia 286, Bangladesh 129, Vietnam 82, Uzbekistan 69 and Nepal 29, 4,464 in all.
| Citizenship | 2019 | 2024 | 2025 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6,042 | 4,105 | 3,419 | 16.5% | |
| 2,202 | 1,974 | 2,294 | 11.1% | |
| 3,243 | 3,146 | 1,968 | 9.5% | |
| 1,311 | 1,730 | 1,331 | 6.4% | |
| 824 | 1,303 | 1,218 | 5.9% | |
| not reported | 1,422 | 1,194 | 5.8% | |
| 346 | 924 | 1,033 | 5.0% | |
| 703 | 782 | 666 | 3.2% | |
| 211 | 429 | 450 | 2.2% | |
| 230 | 307 | 286 | 1.4% | |
| 52 | 76 | 129 | 0.6% | |
| 112 | 99 | 82 | 0.4% | |
| 4 | 14 | 69 | 0.3% | |
| 33 | 44 | 29 | 0.1% | |
| Other origins | 6,717 | 7,060 | 6,505 | 31.5% |
| All origins | 22,030 | 23,415 | 20,673 | 100.0% |
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, by citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
Steady rules, 6,770 fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041
The rules as they stand on 28 September 2026
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) must decide on a single permit or a highly skilled migrant permit within 90 days. The fee is 423 euro.
For a single permit (GVVA) the employer must first seek staff in the Netherlands and the EU or EEA and register the vacancy with UWV, which advises the IND on the labour market.
A highly skilled migrant aged 30 or over must earn at least 5,942 euro gross a month in 2026, 4,357 euro under 30. The employer must be a sponsor recognised by the IND.
Seasonal work in agriculture and horticulture runs on a single permit of up to 24 weeks, and the IND always asks UWV for advice.
Sources: Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), pages on the single permit (GVVA, updated 4 August 2026), the highly skilled migrant, seasonal work and the required amounts for 2026; Foreign Nationals Employment Act (Wav); retrieved 28 September 2026.
About 6,770 fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041
Eurostat projects 10,589,542 in 2026 and 10,582,777 in 2041, a fall of 0.1 percent. With lower migration the fall is 419,502; with higher migration the rise is 430,572.
Source: Eurostat, proj_25np, EUROPOP2025 baseline and migration sensitivity tests, updated 11 June 2026; 2025 observed, demo_pjangroup, updated 25 September 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Citizens of the Netherlands who left in 2024
38,282 citizens returned in 2024, so 10,374 more left than came back.
Eurostat, migr_emi1ctz, retrieved 27 September 2026
Unemployment in 2025, against 6.0 percent across the EU
Fewer than four in a hundred in the labour force look for work, against six across the EU.
Eurostat, une_rt_a, retrieved 27 September 2026
Job vacancy rate in 2025, against 2.1 percent across the EU
About four jobs in a hundred stood open, twice the EU rate, down from 4.8 in 2022.
Eurostat, jvs_a_rate_r2, updated 20 March 2026, retrieved 28 September 2026
About 20,600 permits in 2026, between 12,800 and 31,300
We expect about 20,600 first residence permits for work in 2026, between 12,800 and 31,300, a little below the count of 2025. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is flat. From 2027 we give one line, the count held flat at 20,600, a stated assumption, as the number of people aged 20 to 64 barely changes.
Permits in 2026, our estimate
between 12,800 and 31,300
Permits a year in 2031, held flat, a stated assumption
peers' rate 22,000, a scenario
Direction of the rules and of the count
Permits in 2027: flat; the range is too wide for a yearly number
Held flat, a stated assumption, the count stays at 20,600; the peers' rate, a scenario, reaches 23,400
Permits issued to 2025, then our estimate with its range for 2026; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is flat; from 2027, one line on a stated assumption and a scenario. The peers' rate is a scenario, not a forecast: the rate of the Netherlands moving from 1.96 first residence permits for work a year per 1,000 people aged 20 to 64 to 2.21, the median of its peers (Austria 1.28, Belgium 1.08, Switzerland 2.29, Germany 2.21, France 1.33, Ireland 5.21 and Luxembourg 4.43), over ten years. Scenario: for the count to reach 23,300 by 2036, against 20,600 held flat, the admission rules would have to loosen, and no draft law we read proposes that.
Source: Werklist estimate from Eurostat migr_resfirst (reference years to 2025, updated 11 September 2026); the lines from 2027: held flat, a stated assumption, the count held at 20,600, as the demand of the falling working age lies below it; the peers' rate, a scenario, the median of their 2025 rates, Eurostat migr_resfirst over EUROPOP2025; retrieved 27 September 2026. Values rounded to three significant figures; the table gives the lines in 2031, 2036 and 2041 only, each line in a row of its own; Low and High give the range of 2026.
Origin shares held, and the drivers beside the lines
India holds 16.5% of the permits to 2034, the seven centres about a fifth
Our estimate, which holds the shares of 2025 for every origin. The seven sourcing centres received 4,464 of the 20,673 permits of 2025, 21.6 percent: India 16.5, the Philippines 2.2, Indonesia 1.4, Bangladesh 0.6, Vietnam 0.4, Uzbekistan 0.3 and Nepal 0.1.
Source: Werklist estimate on Eurostat migr_resfirst by citizenship, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026. Shares of each year's permits, to 2034, held at the shares of 2025.
None of these numbers moves the line held flat
The line is the 2025 count held at 20,600, a stated assumption; these numbers stand beside it.
0.1 percent fewer from 2026 to 2041. It enters no line: the demand it implies lies below the count.
The mean yearly change of the last five years (2020 left out), damped by half each year. It rounds to no change, so the line is the 2025 count held.
48,656 left and 38,282 returned, all ages.
The IMF's projection of real GDP growth for the year the estimate starts.
Of the labour force, the IMF's projection for the year the estimate starts.
Against 2.21, the median of its seven peers, and 4.92 across the EU.
Sources: Eurostat proj_25np (EUROPOP2025); the Werklist country record, edition 2026.1; Eurostat migr_emi1ctz and migr_imm1ctz; IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.
What could change this
Three changes could move the numbers on this page and the one before. None of them is in our estimate.
The EU single permit directive
Directive (EU) 2024/1233 applies from 22 May 2026. It eases a change of employer and keeps 90 days for a decision.
The yearly salary floor
The IND sets the salary floor for highly skilled migrants each year; for 2026 it is 5,942 euro a month from age 30. A steeper rise would lower the count, a smaller one would lift it.
A cooling labour market
The vacancy rate fell from 4.8 percent in 2022 to 4.1 in 2025, and the IMF expects unemployment of 4.1 percent in 2026. Further cooling would lower the count; no line assumes it.
How to read this report
What a first residence permit for work is
First residence permits for work, as Eurostat counts them: the first permit of 3 months or more a citizen of a country outside the EU receives to work. Renewals are not counted. They include the highly skilled migrant permit, the single permit (GVVA) and the EU Blue Card; a work permit (TWV) for a stay under 90 days is not counted.
What the range and the line mean
Our estimate gives a yearly number with a low and a high end for 2026 only. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, so we give the direction. After that we give one line, on a stated assumption, and the peers' rate as a scenario. Observed numbers are solid lines, estimates dashed.
How the estimate is made
We start from the 20,673 permits of 2025 and carry their small fall of the last five years: about 20,600 for 2026. People aged 20 to 64 fall by only 0.1 percent to 2041 on Eurostat's projection, so the demand they imply lies below the count and the line is held flat at 20,600. The range comes from a back test on the EU and EFTA countries.
Numbers, dates and words
Past counts are printed exactly; estimates are rounded to three significant figures. The peers of the Netherlands are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland; each chart shows some of them. Comparisons are our arithmetic on Eurostat data. Permits are counted, not people.
Sources
Every source retrieved 27, 28 or 30 September 2026.
- Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser/ view/ migr_resfirst - Eurostat, demo_gind, demo_pjangroup and demo_pjanbroad, population, births, deaths and age. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Eurostat, migr_imm1ctz and migr_emi1ctz, immigration and emigration by citizenship. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Eurostat, proj_25np, EUROPOP2025 population projection, baseline and migration sensitivity tests, updated 11 June 2026. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser/ view/ proj_25np - Eurostat, nama_10_gdp, nama_10_pc, tec00114 and tec00115, GDP, GDP per head and growth. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Eurostat, lfsi_emp_a and une_rt_a, employment and unemployment. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2026, real GDP growth. imf.org/
external/ datamapper - Eurostat, jvs_a_rate_r2, job vacancy rate, updated 20 March 2026. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Statistics Netherlands (CBS), table 84809NED, arrivals from outside the EU and EFTA by migration motive, modified 30 June 2026. opendata.cbs.nl
- Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), pages on the single permit (GVVA), the highly skilled migrant, seasonal work and the required amounts for 2026. ind.nl
- European Union, Directive (EU) 2024/1233 of 24 April 2024, the single permit. eur-lex.europa.eu
- Federal Law Gazette, Germany, Act on the Further Development of Skilled Immigration of 16 August 2023 (2023 I No. 217); Employment Ordinance, section 26; Residence Act, section 20a. recht.bund.de
Photographs and flags
Wikimedia Commons: canal houses on the Damrak, Amsterdam, Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cover); the Oudezijds Kolk, Amsterdam, at night, Massimo Catarinella, CC BY-SA 3.0 (page 3); greenhouses at Maasdijk, Westland, Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 3.0; a container terminal in the port of Rotterdam, VileGecko, CC BY-SA 3.0; the Valley complex under construction, Amsterdam, Choinowski, CC BY-SA 4.0; the Oudegracht wharf, Utrecht, Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0; the Erasmus Bridge and Rotterdam at dusk, Kristoffer Trolle, CC BY 2.0 (back cover). Flags: circle-flags by HatScripts, MIT licence.
What this report answers
How many first residence permits for work has the Netherlands issued each year since 2019?
20,673 in 2025, 11.7% fewer than the 23,415 of 2024 and 35.6% below the peak of 32,123 in 2022. In 2019 the Netherlands issued 22,030.
Which countries do the new hires come from?
Citizens of India received 3,419 permits in 2025, of the United States 2,294 and of China 1,968. The seven Werklist sourcing centres received 4,464, India 3,419 of them.
How does the Netherlands compare with the EU and Germany?
2.0 first residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, down from 3.1 in 2022, below Germany's 2.2 and the EU rate of 4.9.
For which work are the permits issued?
Mostly skilled work: of 18,715 arrivals from outside the EU and EFTA with work as their motive in 2025, 13,905 came on a highly skilled migrant permit, Statistics Netherlands reports.
Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?
The IND decides on a single permit or a highly skilled migrant permit within 90 days; the fee is 423 euro. A highly skilled migrant aged 30 or over must earn at least 5,942 euro gross a month in 2026, and the employer must be a recognised sponsor.
How is the working age population changing?
Eurostat projects 10,589,542 people aged 20 to 64 in 2026 and 10,582,777 in 2041, a fall of 0.1 percent, about 6,770 fewer.
How many first residence permits for work do we expect the Netherlands to issue in 2026, and what comes after?
About 20,600 in 2026, between 12,800 and 31,300, a little below the count of 2025; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, and the direction is flat. Held flat, a stated assumption, the count is 20,600 a year in 2031 and in 2036; the peers' rate, a scenario, gives 22,000 in 2031.
The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report