A religious swath of the Netherlands is continuing to show fertility levels far above the rest of the country.
A recent study from the Iona Institute showed that religious people in general have more children than those who are secular.
The total fertility rate (TFR) across all of the Netherlands dipped slightly from 1.43 in 2024 to 1.42 last year, well below the replacement level of 2.1.
However, that masked significant municipal differences where TFR’s ranged from 2.94 in Renswoude in Utrecht, where they are many Calvinists, to 0.62 on the island of Schiermonnikoog.
11 of the most prominent municipalities in the ‘bible belt’ part of the Netherlands with approximately 263,300 people reported rates between 1.94 to 2.94.
The TFR of eight of those municipalities actually increased or remained steady in 2025 over 2024, even as the rate fell in the rest of the country.
