Dutch population growth slows
The growth of the population of the Netherlands slowed in the first half of 2015, with fewer births and a higher death rate, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.
There were 82,000 births in the first six months of the year compared with 85,000 in the first half of 2014, the CBS said.
The number of deaths was 77,000 over the period. For several weeks at the start of the year there was even a negative natural growth: more people died than were born.
The CBS expects a negative natural growth to occur more often in the future because of the aging of the population.
Most of the growth in the population in the first half of the year came from immigration with 82,000 immigrants arriving in the Netherlands, a rise of 6,000 on the year earlier period.
However, around 65,000 emigrated from the Netherlands, the CBS said.
The Netherlands has a population of 16.9 million.
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