The Netherlands spends an average of €17 billion on immigration relief, a recent study has found.
The paper “Borderless Welfare State: The Consequences of Immigration on Public Finances” looks into the tangible implications of mass immigration on Dutch public funds. The authors of the study compared official government spending data.
According to the data, immigration relief policies peaked at €32 billion in 2016 due to the 2015 European migrant crisis.
The study also suggested that the current Dutch government’s financial support programs for migrants significantly exceed the average expenditures on education, healthcare, justice, social security and allowances. In the years 1995-2019, the total cost of immigration amounted to over €400 billion ($430 billion at the current exchange rate).
The expenses mainly come from various welfare programs. Based on the data from Statistics Netherlands, the report also estimated that the figure could be as high as €600 billion in the next 20 years if no measures are taken. That said, either the government would have to dramatically revise its immigration policy, or the whole welfare system would have to undergo substantial cuts.
The analysis also emphasized that immigrants normally pay lower taxes and make fewer social security contributions than Dutch nationals. The finding has been confirmed by a separate report by the Dutch Finance Ministry, admitting to the fact that the net fiscal contribution of migrant families is significantly lower than that of the rest of the population.
The researchers also differentiated between various types of immigration to the Netherlands, listing study immigrants, labor immigrants and asylum seekers. With the former being positive for the treasury and the latter becoming a burden. The two categories also tend to predetermine the regions where people are coming from.
According to the study, particularly challenging regions include the Middle East (including Pakistan and Turkiye); and Africa (Northern, Central, Western and the Horn of Africa). The net cost of asylum seekers averages roughly €475,000 per person.