Fewer people emigrate

27 February 2008

THE HAGUE – Just over 123,000 people left the Netherlands in 2007, 9,000 less than in 2006. This is the first decline in emigration since 2000.

Emigration primarily dropped among first generation immigrants, according to figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Wednesday.

The fall in emigration in 2007 follows on seven years of persistent increase. The number of 123,000 is still far above the average in the 2001-2005 period, when 103,000 people left the country each year.

Two in three emigrants are of foreign descent. Last year 64,000 first generation immigrants decided to leave the country, more than 7,000 less than a year earlier.