Even though the first wave of the Coronavirus influenced population growth, Southwest Drenthe was the baby capital of 2020
Translated by Adriana Dancu
In seven of the twelve municipalities in Drenthe the number of inhabitants rose slightly in the past year. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) survey also concluded that the population grew the most in Southwest Drenthe.
On the first day of December last year, 34,324 people lived in Meppel; 404 more than at the beginning of the year. That is a growth of 1.2 percent. Westerveld grew with 178 inhabitants to a total of 19,638 at the end of the year, an increase of almost 1 percent. On December 1, 24,374 people lived in De Wolden, 44 more than at the beginning of last year. In percentage terms, that is an increase of 0.2 percent.
Only in Hoogeveen did the population shrink by 0.2 percent to 55,604. At the beginning of last year, 95 more people lived in that municipality.
Nearly 107,000 inhabitants in Emmen
The population also decreased slightly in the Emmen, Aa en Hunze, and Noordenveld districts. Nevertheless, Emmen still has nearly 107,000 inhabitants, making the Southeast Drenthe municipality the largest in the province. Assen, the second municipality in Drenthe in terms of population, did see a slight increase. 213 Assen residents were added last year, bringing the total to 68,812 on December 1.
Virtually no growth in Coevorden
Coevorden is the only municipality where the number of inhabitants has remained virtually the same. Only 12 residents were added between January and December last year. A total of 35,309 people now live in this Southeast Drenthe municipality.
The rest of the Netherlands
The total population of the Netherlands grew last year by about 63,000 inhabitants, half as many as in 2019. Due to the many travel restrictions due to the Coronavirus, fewer internationals were recorded. In addition, the number of deaths was higher than normal because of the virus outbreak, reports CBS.
The statisticians had expected in advance that the Dutch population would exceed 17.5 million, but that did not happen. The number of inhabitants remained just below this limit. These are provisional figures that may change slightly if more data is received by Statistics Netherlands.
The first wave of the Coronavirus, in particular, had a major effect on population growth, the researchers say. The number of deaths exceeded the number of births. Moreover, the migration flow towards the Netherlands has practically dried up. The researchers also saw that fewer people moved abroad.
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