Total number of inhabitants in the Netherlands 2023, by province

In 2023, Zuid-Holland was the most populated province in the Netherlands, with over 3.8 million inhabitants. That was over 800,000 inhabitants more than runner-up Noord-Holland, the province in which also the capital Amsterdam is located. That year, Amsterdam’s population alone made up 863,000 of Noord-Holland’s nearly three million inhabitants.

 Zuid-Holland 

  Zuid-Holland’s largest city is Rotterdam, home to approximately 645,000 people. The third largest city in the Netherlands, Den Haag (or The Hague, as internationals would know it) is also located in Zuid-Holland. The city, which hosts the Dutch government as well as many international organizations, reached a population of roughly 538,000 in 2019.

Utrecht and Eindhoven

   Completing the top five of the largest cities in the Netherlands are Utrecht and Eindhoven, located in the provinces Utrecht and Noord-Brabant. The city of Utrecht had nearly 353,000 inhabitants in 2019, or roughly one quarter of the entire population of the province bearing the same name. Eindhoven’s population reached nearly 232,000 that year, but as Noord-Brabant boasts two more of the largest cities in the country, Eindhoven plays a less central role in its own province as Utrecht does, despite being home to both Philips and one of the most successful football clubs in Dutch history, PSV Eindhoven.