Inflow and outflow by age and origin

Inflow and outflow by age and origin 2014-2025

Between the years 2000 and 2025, an enormous increase in the number of people settling in and leaving Amsterdam can be observed. Roughly a doubling of both settlement and departure. What proportion of the new residents stay for a short time, and what proportion stay longer? Do newcomers stand a chance in the urban sorting process to be able to stay in the city? Or do they have to/want to leave the city again quickly? In other words: is Amsterdam becoming a city of coming and going, a transit hub? Or is it still possible for newcomers to put down roots, develop their potential, and make a contribution to the city?

The city will function more like a sorting machine as a larger number of people enter and leave the city. The greater the inflow, the greater the selection process can be. As the volume of settlement and departure is high relative to the size of the population, the city will increasingly take on the character of a transit hub. The sorting process (who can stay and who cannot) will take on sharper forms. Using data obtained from O&S Amsterdam, an up-to-date overview has been created below of the composition of Amsterdam's inflow and outflow and the impact this has on the city.

By age

From the graph above, it can be deduced that over the past 10 years, the influx into Amsterdam consisted largely of three age groups: 18-24 year olds, who are by far the largest; 25-29 year olds; and 30-34 year olds. But who exactly are these groups, what is their motivation for settling in Amsterdam, and what does it mean for the city?

Amsterdam: City of youth

The largest age group settling in the city is between 18 and 24 years old. As a result, Amsterdam characterizes itself as a city of youth; an increasingly large proportion of the inhabitants are young people. Compared to the composition of the Netherlands as a whole, Amsterdam has had approximately 30% more young people over the past ten years. Between 2020 and 2025, 25,000-30,000 young people settled in Amsterdam annually. In 2025, this group will be responsible for 31.5% of the total influx. When this is compared with the departure of this group from Amsterdam, see the graphs below, it is evident how much this group actually contributes to the growth of the Amsterdam population. Without the positive migration balance of 18-24 year olds, the Amsterdam population would have declined significantly.

That Amsterdam is a city of youth is also evident from the left graph above. The only age groups where clearly more people enter than leave are young people (18-29). Over the past ten years, the 18-24 age group has been responsible for approximately half of the total net migration (growth or decrease due to migration), as shown in the right graph above. This group therefore contributes the most to Amsterdam's growth and ensures that the city is becoming increasingly younger. But what does the composition of the young people entering Amsterdam look like? Do they come from within or outside the country, and what is their motivation?

Largest influx of young youths
The influx of 18-24 year olds, also referred to as young youths in this research report, consists mainly of students and working people with low to very low incomes, a large proportion of whom are from abroad. Due to their low income, and for some due to their status as students, they can access the affordable segment of the housing market: student and youth housing; see the overview on our website. Over the past five years, more than half of this group has come from the interior, as can be seen in the left graph below. These domestic youths are generally students and/or working.

There is also a large number of young internationals entering Amsterdam. In the 2025-2026 academic year, more than 5,000 international students had already started their first year at the UvA (University of Amsterdam, n.d.). Including the HvA and the VU, for which no exact figures are available, international students form one of the largest groups of the foreign influx. The graph on the right, below, shows from which countries these young people are coming to Amsterdam in the year 2025, categorized from highest to lowest of the total for the three age groups. The largest group of 18-24 year olds comes from the United States, which will consist mainly of students due to visa requirements. This also applies to the large influx of young Chinese people, who will therefore also be primarily students. For young Europeans, it is easier to settle here as a student than as a working professional. Student housing is available for international students, for which they often receive priority for their first year. Young working foreign professionals can theoretically apply for youth housing, but there are long waiting lists for this. They can also turn to the private rental market, with extremely high rents.

In addition to the large influx, there is a large group of young people originally from Amsterdam. We will investigate further what proportion of 18-24 year olds grew up in Amsterdam and what proportion of them are leaving the city.

Influx of older youths

The group of 25-29 year olds is described here as 'older youths'. This is the second largest group of newcomers to Amsterdam over the past 10 years. This group, insofar as they were students, has generally graduated and consists mainly of working professionals. Consequently, student and youth housing (up to and including age 27) is scarcely available for this group of residents. This means that they predominantly end up in the expensive, private rental sector or are dependent on owner-occupied homes, which are only accessible with a good income; well above the median. The group of residents between the ages of 25 and 29 will therefore primarily have a high income.

The influx of older young people is highest from within the country. These are primarily people who studied elsewhere and have now found a good job in Amsterdam. Many of them move to Amsterdam because of the labor market and lifestyle. A term describing the dominant lifestyle in Amsterdam is the 'oat milk elite', coined by Jonas Kooyman in 2019. It describes the new, young urban middle class that, with their expensive and exclusive consumption patterns and monoculture, increasingly defines the Amsterdam streetscape (Het Parool, 2023). A large part of this middle class is between 25 and 29 years old and comes from other parts of the country or studied in Amsterdam and were able to stay here.

In addition to domestic influx, there is also a large group of older young people entering Amsterdam from abroad. The graph on the right above shows that by far the majority of older young people move to Amsterdam from Italy. They also arrive in large numbers from other EU countries such as Germany, Spain, and France. A large proportion of them contribute to Amsterdam's position as part of the global economy because they work for international companies. There will also be a group holding low-paying jobs, but they will generally find it much more difficult to settle in Amsterdam due to the scarcity and high housing prices. They are more likely to end up in the areas surrounding Amsterdam, in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA). The older young people settling here from outside the EU come mainly from the United Kingdom, India, the United States, and Turkey. If they can hold a high-paying job, they can obtain an expatriate visa. They can also obtain a visa as a highly skilled migrant. Lower-paid labor migrants from outside the EU find it very difficult to officially enter Amsterdam (El Moussaoui et al., 2025).

Young people leave before having children
The graph on the left below shows the top three age groups leaving Amsterdam. The groups of young and older youths leave the city in greater numbers than 30-34 year olds. Research shows that the average age at which women have their first child is 32 (Elbrechts, Sleutjes & Smits, 2023). From this, it can be concluded that more young people leave Amsterdam before they have started a family.

This group includes, among others, students who have just graduated and cannot or do not want to find housing or work here. Just as domestic settlement is greater than that from abroad, departure to the domestic market is also the largest. Many students return to their home region or to a more affordable area after their studies. For foreign students from outside the EU, there is a scheme to give them a longer chance to obtain a job in the Netherlands; a so-called job search year. As a result, they receive a residence permit for one year, and if they manage to find a job of at least €3,122 gross per month, they become 'knowledge migrants' (Immigration and Naturalisation Service, 2026). In recent years, the largest group leaving for abroad has been the group of young people. This group consists largely of students who return abroad immediately after their studies, but also of Amsterdam youth who go to study in another country.

The graph on the right, below, shows the countries to which people will emigrate from Amsterdam in 2025, categorized from highest to lowest across the total of the three age groups. The top six countries from which the most settlers originate are the same as the top six countries to which people are leaving. This will be examined in more detail in the next chapter.

In conclusion, since 2015, significantly more twenty-somethings have been leaving the city than thirty-somethings. Young people are able to settle in the city, however difficult that may be, but must subsequently leave it again quickly, often before they can even start a family. The major sorting process of who can stay in Amsterdam and who cannot therefore takes place among young people. Much less so within the classic group of those leaving: young families between the ages of 30 and 39 (Municipality of Amsterdam, 2024). This shows that the sorting process is taking place faster and on a larger scale; people stay here for shorter periods and the inflow and outflow are at a high level: just under 10% of the population enters annually and slightly less leaves annually.

Country of origin and destination

In onderstaande grafieken geven we een overzicht van de top 15 herkomst en bestemmingslanden.

Within the EU

A large proportion of those settling in or leaving for abroad arrive at and depart from an EU country. There is a clear net migration surplus of EU countries in Amsterdam in 2025, around 4,000. However, the growth in the number of EU citizens varies considerably by EU country. It is striking that the majority of departures are towards Spain. The Spanish economy has grown significantly more than other EU countries in recent years. Spain's open attitude towards migrant workers likely plays a role in this. Half a million undocumented migrants have been able to obtain papers to live and work in the country (temporarily). As a result, they can work legally and primarily fill practical jobs, thereby also contributing to tax revenues (Uildriks, 2026). This makes it more attractive to move to Spain, or to move back; this also shows how the outflow has more than doubled over the past 10 years.

Furthermore, entry from and departure to Italy and Germany is relatively high. In both cases, there is more inflow than outflow. For these EU countries, it is easy to move back and forth due to EU treaties such as Schengen. Greece and Portugal are the only EU countries where the 18-24 age group is not clearly the largest group of settlers. From the rest of the EU countries, this is clearly the largest group of settlers.

Outside the EU

Because strict visa rules apply to countries outside the EU, it is more difficult for non-EU migrants to settle here. Although they require a special residence permit, there is a large influx from countries such as the US, the United Kingdom, India, and China. They will mostly consist of students or those holding high-paying jobs in Amsterdam; also known as expats. There are, however, some exceptions.

The United States

For Americans wishing to live and work in the Netherlands, for example, there is a special arrangement called the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty, in effect since 1956. This is a residence permit for self-employed entrepreneurs, meaning they do not have to meet the income requirements for standard visas, making it easier for Americans to settle here. Societal and political developments also play a role in why Americans are attracted to the Netherlands (Mabelis, 2026). In the years 2014–2018 and 2021–2024, significant growth can be observed in the outflow from Amsterdam to the US. The inflow from the US constitutes one of the largest groups of settlers in Amsterdam; from this, one could cautiously conclude that the Americans who settle in Amsterdam also largely return to the US. In 2025, the outflow to the US has decreased, which could be due to President Trump's new term of office, which began in January 2025.

As can also be seen in the previous chapter on 'age', and in the graph on the left below, the largest group to and from the US is between the ages of 18 and 24, so mostly students. Furthermore, the net migration between the US and Amsterdam also shows that the number of Americans entering and leaving the city is substantial in higher age groups as well.

India

The graph on the right above shows that the influx of 18-24 year olds from India is relatively small, from which it can be concluded that few students come from India. Settlers from India come mainly from the 25-29 age category, whereas the age groups between 30-49 are all larger than the 18-24 age group. Because immigrants from India require a special residence permit, it can be assumed that this group consists mainly of skilled migrants and expats. Other research shows that they primarily work in ICT and FinTech or at the top of multinational corporations (De Ree, 2026). Compared to the outflow, the inflow is considerably larger, showing a larger net settlement than from the US. The population of Amsterdam is therefore growing more due to immigration from India than from the US, by a margin of nearly 500, whereas over a thousand more people entered from the US.

This can be explained by the already observed departure of Indians from Amsterdam towards the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA) and the rest of the Netherlands. Particularly to Amstelveen, Uithoorn, and recently to Hoofddorp and Almere. See our research report 'Domestic departure from Amsterdam by foreigners'.

United Kingdom

From the data, it can be concluded that the largest group of residents from abroad between 2014 and 2021 originated from Great Britain. This includes not only people with British nationality, but also people of other nationalities moving from Great Britain to Amsterdam. Following the Brexit referendum in 2016, we see a strong increase in residents from Great Britain, including expats who previously worked in London's financial center or at international companies and institutions. From the comparative graph between the three different age groups under the chapter 'age', it can be seen that within the groups of residents from and departures to Great Britain, the 18-24, 25-29, and 30-39 year olds do not differ much from each other. In addition to expats and skilled migrants, a large number of students are likely also settling here. Since 2020, the Brexit arrangements have been implemented, and it can be observed that the number of new residents is decreasing.

Departure to Great Britain has been fairly stable over the past 10 years, but shows a decline from 2019 to 2024. Settlement from this country declined after 2019 and is growing again in 2025, but there is still a slight net influx of new residents; and thus the number of Britons in Amsterdam is growing.

China

Special residence permits also apply to China, limiting the influx. The graphs above show that, just as with the US, the 18-24 age group experiences the largest influx from China compared to other age categories. Here, too, this primarily concerns students. Moreover, this age group is also the largest group leaving for China. Students come to study and often return immediately afterwards.

Ukraine and Russia

As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a large influx of Ukrainian migrants can be observed. However, a significant increase in migration from Russia was also seen. These will partly be Russian war refugees/asylum seekers, but it appeared that large numbers of Russian ICT and FinTech employees are also receiving residence permits based on their contribution to the Dutch Tech industry. For instance, about 500 Russian employees of the new tech company Nebius Group were able to settle in Amsterdam (Soetenhorst, 2024). Russian workers are granted residence permits in the Netherlands not only on the basis of the tech industry, but some 80 Russian journalists from the Moscow Times have also received permits to reside in Amsterdam (Sauer, 2024). In addition, it can be seen that during the war in Ukraine, a portion is already moving back.

September 15, 2026

Sources

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Data obtained from: O&S Amsterdam (2026, June 30)