People who move house are shifting further away from their old neigbourhoods than they used to, according to research by national statistics office CBS.
In 2024, people moved an average of 18 kilometres away, two kilometres more than in 2015, the CBS said. In particular, families with children are likely to move further away.
In 2024, half of movers remained within a distance of no more than four kilometres from their old home and three quarters moved no further than 17 kilometres. Ten years earlier, the figures were three and 13 kilometres.
The increase in distance is due in part to people leaving the cities of the central urban belt in search of larger and affordable family homes, although people in Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe move the furthest distances.
Youngsters moved the furthest away, with an average of 49 kilometres, but this is down to studying at university or college in a different town, the CBS said. People who have reached retirement age move a little further than average but are less likely to move than they used to be.
