At least 3.3 million people were enslaved by the Netherlands during the transatlantic slave trade, according to new research.
This figure is more than five times the widely cited estimate of 600,000.
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The previous data was used in official apologies by King Willem-Alexander and former Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Investigative journalist Leendert van der Valk argues that the widely accepted number is a gross underestimation.
Van der Valk's book indicates the true number of victims lies between 3.3 and 5.3 million.
The historical gap exists because previous calculations omitted various colonised regions, long-term involvement, and generations born into enslavement.
Humanizing the Victims
Peggy Brandon, a Surinamese-born cultural leader and curator of the developing National Museum of Slavery, stressed the importance of accurate numbers.
She said the metrics matter deeply for humanising the victims.
“What upsets me is that we never talk about the people who lived generation after generation within that system of enslavement,” Brandon said.
“We don’t talk about the people who sometimes killed their young children because they didn’t want them to grow up in enslavement.”
Brandon explained that establishing the true scale challenges persistent colonial narratives. It honors individuals previously overlooked by history.
“It’s going back to the fact that these were human beings. And every person has a right to be seen and to be known,” she said.
Expanding Historical Parameters and Geography
The updated calculations rely on demographic research from Radboud University.
