According to population figures from 2008, the net migration rate in the Netherlands was positive for the first time since 2003.

This basically means that more people came to live in the country than left it. Last year saw a record number of immigrants - 140,000 in total. The number of "import brides" -  young women brought over for marriage with Dutch Moroccans or Turks - increased significantly by 30 percent. A large percentage of the immigrants came from eastern Europe.

The latest figures indicate a reverse in the prevailing migration pattern, which saw more more emigrants than immigrants in the country, that started in 2003. In the first six months of 2008, the population increased by almost 30,000.