THE HAGUE, 14/05/08 - Nearly 32,000 people immigrated to the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2008. This was nearly 6,000 more than in the same year-earlier period, the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) reported yesterday.

People born in one of the countries of the European Union accounted for more than half of the increase. "Immigration into the Netherlands showed an across-the-board increase, but the arrival of people from EU countries in particular rose substantially. This is presumably related to the shortage on the Dutch labour market," CBS commented.

In terms of absolute numbers, the number of Poles who have settled in the Netherlands rose most substantially. In the first quarter of 2008, nearly 3,500 Poles arrived, lifting the number of first generation Poles in the Netherlands to an estimated 45,000 on 1 April 2008. The number of Poles in the Netherlands has doubled since Poland became a member of the EU in May 2004, added CBS.

Until 2005 many more Polish women than men came to the Netherlands. But the share of men in immigration has increased strongly since.

Polish immigrants arriving from 2007 onwards live mainly in towns in Brabant, and in the horticultural regions of the Netherlands: Westland, the bulb-growing areas near Hillegom and Lisse, and in the vicinity of Aalsmeer and Enkhuizen.