Rural population in Netherlands
Netherlands: Rural population was 734,613 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Netherlands, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Netherlands stood at 734,613. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of down 6.4% on the previous year and down 55.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Netherlands peaked at 4.95 million in 1980 and was at its lowest, 734,613, in 2025.
That places Netherlands 141st out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.76 million | 4.60 million | 4.92 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 4.91 million | 4.85 million | 4.94 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.74 million | 4.64 million | 4.95 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.30 million | 3.63 million | 4.66 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.79 million | 2.28 million | 3.43 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.67 million | 1.06 million | 2.10 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 864,497 | 734,613 | 1.00 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More agriculture & rural data for Netherlands
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.4% (2024)
- Rural population 4.1% (2025)
- Rural population growth -6.6% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.7% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 22.43 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 153,500 hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 6,806 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 1.04 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 238.02 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Netherlands?
- Rural population in Netherlands was 734,613 in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 4.95 million in 1980.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 734,613 in 2025.
- How does Netherlands rank for rural population?
- Netherlands ranks 141st out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is down 55.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.