In 2025, immigration to the Netherlands was down for the third year in a row. The number of migrants arriving in the country rose almost continuously between 2006 and 2022.
Immigration to the Netherlands in 2025 declined for a third year in a row according to data released by the Dutch statistics office at the end of June.
The report examined the three main reasons for moving to the Netherlands: work or labor migration, asylum and related family reunification, as well as further education.
A total of 309,000 migrants arrived in the Netherlands in 2025, translating to 8,000 fewer migrants than the prior year. The dip was most noted in the number of asylum migrants and highly skilled migrants from countries outside the European Union.
Skilled migrant arrivals almost halved since 2022
An estimated 14,000 skilled migrants from countries outside the European Union arrived in the Netherlands in 2025. The number is a drastic departure from the 26,000 arrivals that were recorded in 2022.
The decline was attributed to fewer Indian nationals but the number of skilled laborers who were identified as Turkish, Russian, Chinese or South African also fell.
In 2024, labor immigration made up 19 percent of total immigration, with about two-thirds coming from an EU country.
Decline in asylum seekers
A similar downward trend was recorded among asylum seekers. In 2025, 35,000 asylum seekers were recorded in the Netherlands, 4,000 fewer than the previous year. The Netherlands classifies asylum seekers as people who entered the country seeking international protection and are registered as residents in Personal Records Database at the municipal level.
An analysis of the asylum figures by the Dutch Statistics Office indicate that the number of requests for international protection fluctuate in relation to global developments. For example, arrivals increased in 2016 as various conflicts intensified, causing greater numbers of people to be displaced. Numbers flattened in 2020, partly as a result of the stagnation of travel for a period during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past 27 years, an average of nine percent of immigrants each year have been registered as asylum seekers.
In addition, over 28 thousand refugees from Ukraine arrived in the Netherlands in 2025. They are covered by the European Temporary Protection Directive. This was down by nearly 2 thousand from 2024.
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New two-tier asylum system introduced
In April, the Dutch Senate approved a two-tier asylum system that limits family reunification. Under the new system, new asylum seekers are classified into one of two categories: people fleeing persecution due to their sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion, and people fleeing from war and the consequences of climate change.
People escaping persecution will be attributed A status, and will have more rights than people escaping war and natural disasters, who will have B status and will have a limited residency permit and no right to family reunification.
Previously, all asylum seekers who received international protection were granted five-year-long residence permits, regardless of their category. Application for permanent residency was possible after five years.
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More rejections
In 2025, the Netherlands rejected more asylum requests than it accepted. Compared to the previous year, the rejection rate was 56 percent higher. The biggest factor behind these changes is probably the change in the status of Syrian applicants.
In total numbers the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) rejected around 8,100 applications while accepting 7,400 in 2025; the majority of those applications notably were rejected in the second half of the year.
In information released last month following the implementation of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, the Dutch government announced changes in its asylum rules after June 12, 2026.
Notification regarding permission to stay in the Netherlands was accelerated from six months to three months and applies mainly if the applicant is from what is classified as a 'safe country.'
Those who applied for asylum after June 12, can no longer apply for a permanent asylum residence permit. New asylum residence permits will be valid for three years.
For asylum applications filed before June 12, 2026 and still waiting for a decision, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Services (IND) said that it would deploy more employees for the new asylum procedure. Wait times for evaluation and processing would vary depending on the reasons for seeking asylum and the availability of support staff such as interpreters.
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