Largest cities in the Netherlands 2023, by number of inhabitants

Not surprisingly, the capital of the Netherlands is also its largest city. At around 882,600, Amsterdam has over 200,000 inhabitants more than the second-largest city in the country, Rotterdam. The Hague and Utrecht, the third and fourth-largest cities in the Netherlands, together have approximately as many inhabitants as Amsterdam alone.

Amsterdam and the pressure on the housing market

A rapidly growing city, Amsterdam’s population increased from roughly 755.6 thousand to around 873.3 thousand in the last decade. This has created pressure on the real estate market, where average rent and housing prices have skyrocketed. In the first quarter of 2010, the average rent of residential property amounted to roughly 16.32 euros per square meter. In the first quarter of 2021, this had increased to over 21,76 euros per square meter.

 2030 Outlook 

In the nearby future, Amsterdam is set to remain the Netherlands’ largest city. According to a recent forecast, by 2030 Amsterdam will have broken the barrier of one million inhabitants. Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht are forecast to grow too, albeit at a much lower pace. In 2030, Rotterdam is expected to reach just under 700,000 inhabitants.