The Pakistani Community in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is home to an estimated 20,000–25,000 people of Pakistani origin, making it a smaller diaspora community compared to the UK or Germany, but a meaningful and well-established one. The largest concentrations are in:
- Den Haag (The Hague) — the city with the strongest Pakistani community presence, partly due to its role as a diplomatic and international affairs hub
- Amsterdam — a smaller but visible community, often professionals and students
- Rotterdam — a port city with a diverse South Asian population
Unlike in Birmingham or Bradford, you won’t find a “Pakistani mile” in the Netherlands — no dedicated street of Pakistani fabric shops, no local tailors stitching up lehengas, no aunties selling second-hand joras from their front rooms. The community is present, the culture is alive, but the fashion infrastructure simply hasn’t built up the same way.
For weddings and formal events, most Netherlands-based Pakistanis rely on one of three options: bringing clothes back from a trip to Pakistan, ordering online and dealing with the import process, or borrowing from family. None of these options is without its own set of frustrations.