And it’s really only an estimate, CPB warns. Still, the bureau believes 32 percent of foreign PhD graduates still lives in the Netherlands after ten years. Some groups seem less eager to travel than others: women, but engineers and scientists from less wealthy countries are relatively stable.

People from Eastern Europe and Asians tend to stay in the Netherlands especially, whereas almost all North-Americans leave upon graduating.

Approximately half of the foreign PhD graduates who leave the Netherlands return to their home country. The others leave for Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom mostly. Dutch PhD graduates who decide to leave the country have the same preferences, yet in slightly different order.

The number of foreign PhD candidates at Dutch universities has increased quite a bit over the past years. Good news as far as the government is concerned, as internationalization is important for the quality of higher education. But we have to bear in mind their expensive PhD tracks should benefit the Dutch economy as well, if only for tax revenue.