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Netherlands Population and Religion Percentage

The Netherlands, also known as Holland, is a country located in Western Europe. Its borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. According to Statistics Netherlands, at the end of August 2022, the Netherlands had a population of 17,749,262 (17.8 million or 1.77 Crore)

Estimated Population of Netherlands in 2023: 18 million or 1.8 Crore

Source: Statistics Netherlands

read about Top Countries in Europe by population

NetherlandsPopulation
Total Population17,749,262 
Global Rank71
Land Area 33,893 sq. km (13,086 sq. mi)
Area Rank131
Pop. Density508 people/sq. km (1,316 people per mi2)
Growth rate0.31%
Fertility Rate* of Netherlands 1.66
Infant mortality rate ** 2.1
Median Age 43.3 Years
Life Expectancy 82.78 years
Urban Population 92.50%

Religion in Netherlands

The Netherlands is a secular nation and Christianity is the majority religion. In the past half a century there is a decline in religious adherence and as of 2019, 54.1% of the total population declared themselves to be non-religious. 

Christianity is followed by 54.1% of the population and among Christians, Catholics comprised 20.1% of the total population, and Protestants (14.8%). Protestantism in the Netherlands consists of a number of churches within various traditions. The largest of these is the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN), a united church that is Calvinist and Lutheran in orientation.

Non-Christian faiths account for 11%, and the remaining 54.1% are classified as unaffiliated, which can mean agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular.” 

Other Religions Include Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jews, and new-age religions. Muslims comprised 5.0% of the total population and followers of other Christian denominations and other religions (like Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism) comprised the remaining 5.9%.

Islam is the second-largest religion in the state. The Muslim population increased due to migrant workers from Turkey and Morocco, as well as migrants from former Dutch colonies, such as Surinam and Indonesia. During the 1990s, Muslim refugees arrived from countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Hinduism is the third largest religion followed by over 1% of the population. Most of these are Indo-Surinamese. There are also sizeable populations of Hindu immigrants from India and Sri Lanka, and some Western adherents of Hinduism-orientated new religious movements such as Hare Krishnas.

The Netherlands has an estimated 250,000 Buddhists or people strongly attracted to this religion, mainly ethnic Dutch people. In addition, there are about 45,000 Jews in the Netherlands.

Religion percentage in the Netherlands

Religion/ AffiliationsPercentage
Christians34.9%
– Roman Catholic – 20.1%
– Protestant– 14.8%
– Other Christians– 1-2%
Irreligious 54.1%
Muslim5 %
Hinduism1%
Buddhist0.4%
Jews0.1%
Other Faiths2-3%

Source: Statistics Netherlands and Independent studies

Top Cities in Netherlands by Population
#CityRegionPopulation
1AmsterdamNorth Holland8,72,680
2RotterdamSouth Holland6,50,711
3The HagueSouth Holland5,44,766
4UtrechtUtrecht3,57,179
5EindhovenNorth Brabant2,34,235
6GroningenGroningen2,32,826
7TilburgNorth Brabant2,19,632
8AlmereFlevoland2,11,514
9BredaNorth Brabant1,84,403
10NijmegenGelderland1,77,818
11ApeldoornGelderland1,63,706
12HaarlemNorth Holland1,62,864
13ArnhemGelderland1,61,260
14EnschedeOverijssel1,59,934
15AmersfoortUtrecht1,57,286
16ZaanstadNorth Holland1,56,703
17HaarlemmermeerNorth Holland1,55,770
18‘s-HertogenboschNorth Brabant1,54,989
19ZwolleOverijssel1,28,617
20LeidenSouth Holland1,25,434

*Fertility rate, average number of children born to women during their reproductive years.

**Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 live births of children under one year of age.

Population of Netherlands 2024 | Religion in Netherlands

Rajeev Rana

Rajeev Rana loves reading about history and demography and has been writing on these topics for five years. While not a certified expert, he has a deep understanding of demography in India. Rajeev contributes to several websites and has extensive knowledge of the Delhi NCR area.