Amsterdam Luring British

The number of Dutch nationals moving to Britain has dropped sharply since the Brexit vote back in 2016, but more British nationals are moving to the Netherlands, according to national statistics agency CBS. Until 2016 there was a steady increase in Dutch immigration to the UK, but last year 3,000 made the move, the lowest number since 2009. Since the Brexit vote, Dutch emigration to Britain has fallen almost 30%, the CBS said. At the same time, the number of British nationals coming to the Netherlands continues to rise. In 2018, 5,800 people made the move, a 40% increase on 2015. In January alone, 80 British citizens in the Netherlands gave up their British nationality to become Dutch nationals, compared with just 19 in the whole of 2015. In 2020, over 200 British nationals agreed to renounce their British nationality and become Dutch. A further 1,128 British people became dual nationals last year after becoming Dutch using the alternative option route.

Some 500 British companies are also currently in various levels of talks with the Dutch foreign investment agency NFIA about moving some operations to the Netherlands, a spokesman has confirmed to DutchNews.nl. The list includes companies with serious intentions as well as firms which are orientating themselves about a move to the EU and are in talks with other countries as well, the NFIA said. ‘It has now become clear what can and cannot be done with regard to exporting to the EU, and buying from different suppliers,’ an NFIA spokesman said. ‘And the last three months of 2020 and first month of 2021 have been the busiest since the Brexit referendum in 2016.