A veritable invasion of retirees
Translated by Thomas Ansell
As reported by the Leeuwarder Courant, areas of Friesland and Drenthe are increasingly being populated by people aged 60 and up. The south-west of Friesland and southern Drenthe are amongst the areas affected the most by the population shift. According to CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek), 5.76 out of every 1000 residents are from another part of the country in south-western Friesland, with 3.91 out of every 1000 residents from somewhere else in south-east Friesland.
The growth is part of a wider trend of migration with more older people leaving the Randstad region to more rural areas. Drenthe is the most population for the retirees: in the south-west of Drenthe 8.64 per 1000 residents have a non-Drents background. In the south-east of Drenthe the figure is 8.05 per 1000 residents.
Aside from Friesland and Drenthe, the Veluwe and Achterhoek regions in Gelderland, and the province of Zeeland are also popular destinations for the older people.
The incoming migrants are often richer than local populations, too. Of those that moved in to Friesland, 21.5 percent immediately slotted into the richest fifth of all Frisian residents.
Fewer of the pensioners moving to Drenthe are as wealthy- though the stream of new residents in both provinces is having an effect on the housing market. In the south-west of Friesland house prices have rise by a fifth this year, with one reason being demand from incoming Randstad retirees.
Image by Hillebrand Steve, USFWS on Pixnio. Public realm.
