8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Western Europe

Born in Netherlands

About 1 in 787 people born in 2023 started life in Netherlands. A boy can expect to live 81 years and a girl 84, up from 70 and 73 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 787
odds of being born here
167,800 births · Ranked 92nd of 230
81 / 84
years of life, boys / girls
Was 70 / 73 in 1950
$28,209
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 31st of 203 · extrapolated
95%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 11 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 33 in every 1,000 births to 3.9.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
010203040195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth80.5 years for boys, 83.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year166,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles89%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year5 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.4, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.43UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.8 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 35 and the poorest fifth 9.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
9%Poorest fifth
15%Second
18%Middle
22%Fourth
35%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $28,209 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth35% / 9% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.8% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming2% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed17% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment138% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Rotterdam, with 868,135 people.

95%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Rotterdam868,135
Amsterdam741,636
The Hague474,292
Utrecht376,435
Groningen244,807
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Dutch100%
English90%
German71%
French19%
Low German11%
Dutch is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

South Holland3.2 million
North Holland2.5 million
North Brabant1.7 million
Gelderland1.3 million
Utrecht1.1 million
Overijssel939,775
Limburg688,007
Groningen381,248
Flevoland371,920
Friesland261,691

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 12 regions
  • South Holland3.2 million
  • North Holland2.5 million
  • North Brabant1.7 million
  • Gelderland1.3 million
  • Utrecht1.1 million
  • Overijssel939,775
  • Limburg688,007
  • Groningen381,248
  • Flevoland371,920
  • Friesland261,691
  • Drenthe195,297
  • Zeeland178,904

People on the move

About 3.5% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Belgium, Canada, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Belgium136,488
Canada68,248
Australia63,634
Residents born abroad16.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostBelgium (136,488), Canada (68,248), Australia (63,634)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $5.2 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 57%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
57%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202422,986Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Netherlands, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Netherlands

Elsewhere in Europe

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences