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Cities

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Amsterdam, Netherlands

Name: Amsterdam, Netherlands — official statistics for people relocating
Creator: Relokato
License: https://relokato.com/terms

Public transport, airport and rail connections, healthcare access and car ownership — each figure linked to the official publication it came from.

10 of 10 fields sourced from official publications. Every figure links to the body that published it and the period it describes. Where we don't have something, we say so rather than estimating.

✈️ Getting out

How far this place is from everywhere else — the thing most cost-of-living comparisons leave out.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol · AMS

Long-haul nonstop service

YesOfficial statistic

Schiphol is one of Europe's principal hub airports; intercontinental service is extensive. A dated destination count should replace this qualitative entry.

Schiphol · August 2026 · city figure

🏥 Healthcare access

Region: Noord-Holland

Basisverzekering is compulsory — and it is not part of the residence permit

Who the public system covers

Everyone living in the Netherlands must take out Dutch basic health insurance (basisverzekering) under the Zorgverzekeringswet. The obligation arises from residency law, not from your permit — the IND never asks to see a policy, which is why it is so often missed. A US or international plan does not satisfy it.Official statistic

Entrepreneurs and self-employed people are covered by the same obligation as employees.

Business.gov.nl — Healthcare insurance in the Netherlands · August 2026 · national figure

Taking out basisverzekering after you arriveOfficial step

Register at your municipality (BRP) to obtain a BSN. If you are staying under four months you register with the RNI instead.
You cannot buy Dutch basic insurance before you have a BSN, so there is a gap between arriving and being covered — bridge cover is worth arranging before you fly.
Basic insurance must be taken out within four months of municipal registration.
Cover is backdated to your registration date, so the premium is owed for the gap period regardless of when you enrol.

Business.gov.nl — Healthcare insurance in the Netherlands · August 2026

🚇 Getting around

Operators: GVB · Vervoerregio Amsterdam (fare-setting authority)

Metro or rapid transit

YesOfficial statistic

GVB · August 2026 · city figure

What a single ticket covers

The 1-hour ticket covers all GVB lines in Amsterdam, Diemen, Duivendrecht, Amstelveen, Uithoorn, Schiphol and Weesp, with unlimited transfers inside the hour provided you check out and back in each time.Official statistic

Not valid on GVB night buses.

GVB — GVB 1 uurkaart · August 2026 · city figure

Who sets the fares

Fares are set annually by Vervoerregio Amsterdam, not by GVB. For 2026 they rose by an average of 3.86%.Official statistic

Two products changed on 1 January 2026: the Bus Tram Metro 1.5-hour card was withdrawn, and the Randstad Noord Zone Abonnement was replaced by Randstad Noord Vrij, an OVpay product. RNZA annual passes stopped being sold on 1 December 2025; monthly RNZA remained available until 1 March 2026.

GVB — Nieuwe OV-tarieven 2026 · January 2026 · city figure

🚗 Living without a car

Reported behaviour from official statistics — not a walkability score.

Households with no car

56.6 % of residential addresses with no carComputed

Read from autobezit_gemeente_amsterdam.xlsx, sheet 'Tabel 7' (peildatum 1 January 2025), row 8 — the 'Totaal / Totaal' municipality row. Cell K8 = 258,275 addresses with no household car; cell H8 = 487,128 residential addresses in total; cell AB8 = 31,192 addresses CBS could not link to a household in the BRP (the 'Onbekend' column). 56.6% = K8 / (H8 - AB8), i.e. the share among addresses where car ownership is actually known. Dividing by all addresses including the unlinked ones would give 53.0% instead — the less accurate of the two, since it counts addresses whose car ownership is unknown, which is why 56.6% is the figure published here. CBS counts a company car as one car at the employee's address via the Belastingdienst payroll register, so lease cars are included.

CBS — Autobezit per gebied voor twaalf gemeenten, 2019-2025 (maatwerktabel, team Verkeer, published April 2026) · January 2025 · city figure

Passenger cars registered

9.4 millionOfficial statistic

Up 1.8% on a year earlier and 11.5% on seven years earlier. 87.7% are registered to a private individual, the remainder to companies.

CBS — Hoeveel personenauto's zijn er in Nederland? · January 2026 · national figure

Registered private car owners

7.2 millionOfficial statistic

Against nearly 11.9 million Dutch driving licences. Both are higher than in 2019, with the increase concentrated among people over 75.

CBS — Nieuwsbrief verkeer en mobiliteit, juli 2026 · January 2026 · national figure

Electric or hybrid share

21.5 % of passenger cars that are electric or hybridOfficial statistic

Just over 2 million cars, up 24.8% on January 2025. Three years earlier the share was one in nine; it is now better than one in five. Petrol remains 71.3%.

CBS — Hoeveel personenauto's zijn er in Nederland? · January 2026 · national figure

📍 Neighbourhoods

Official statistics at the level each figure is actually reported. No verdicts on what an area is like.

Centrum-Westgebied (area) figure

Population

44,246 residentsOfficial statistic