Four in 10 asylum seekers with a residency permit have a job as their main source of income nine years on, figures from national statistics agency CBS have shown.

Of the asylum seekers who obtained a residency permit in 2014, 85% depended on benefits in the first year, mostly because they were living in emergency accommodation and were grappling with the language.

In 2023, 47% had a job as their main source of income, while 25% were on benefits. Some do not have an income at all, for instance, because they look after children. Other may have studied with a job on the side but not as their main source of income, CBS said.

Residency permit holders are also finding work more quickly, the CBS said, with 19% of the 2014 group having earnings from jobs as their main source of income after three years. Of the people who got their residency permit in 2016, some 27% found a job three years in, and in the 2020 group, the number rose to 31%.

If integration means “being able to look after yourself,” then these figures are showing progress,” a CBS spokeswoman told NU.nl.

The CBS has been studying data on residency permit holders since 2014 on behalf of the immigration ministry. Between 2014 and 2024, some 280,000 asylum seekers were given a residency permit. Most were from Syria (157,000), followed by Eritrea (37,000).