Urk has highest share of under-25s in the Netherlands, CBS says

Urk has the Netherlands’ highest share of residents under 25, at 42.4%, while the island municipality of Schiermonnikoog has the lowest, at 17.1%, according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

The data, for 1 January 2026, show that young people under 25 make up 27% of the Dutch population overall. Nearly 4.9 million people in the country are in that age group.

Urk has had the highest proportion for decades, CBS says. Staphorst and Barneveld follow, with 36.1% and 34.4% of their populations under 25. CBS links the high shares of children in these municipalities to birth rates above the national average.

University towns also have relatively large young populations, particularly among 18- to 24-year-olds. That age group makes up 20% of Wageningen’s residents, 19% in Groningen and Maastricht, and 18% in Delft.

Nationally, the age balance has shifted over the past two decades: there are fewer children under 18 and more people aged 18 to 24 than in 2005. CBS expects the number of young adults to fall in the near future, as smaller generations born after 2010 reach adulthood and larger cohorts turn 25.

The annual Youth Monitor also reports a change in young people’s backgrounds. At the start of 2026, 12% had been born outside the Netherlands, up from 7% in 2016. CBS says the numbers of young people born in Syria and Ukraine have risen particularly strongly over the decade.