Economic Development
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- In
terms of surface area and population size, the Netherlands is not a
particularly large country and ranks 133rd and 61st worldwide. In stark
contrast, the country’s economic performance ranks much higher. The size
of the economy, or the Gross Domestic Product, was more than € 588 billion in
2010. The Netherlands
has the sixteenth largest economy in the world and the sixth largest in
the European Union.
- Compared
to many other EU Member States, the Netherlands has a highly open
economy, which is why the country was hit hard by the sharp downturn in world trade in 2008
and 2009. Nevertheless, the economic downturn in the Netherlands
was no greater than the fall in GDP for the entire Eurozone.
When considered over a longer period of time, however, the Netherlands shows excellent economic growth
compared to other prosperous EU Member States and the US. This
is an exceptionally good performance for a highly developed economy with a
high standard of living (see also GDP per capita). The structural reforms
that have been implemented in, for instance, the labour market and the
social security system, have created conditions for potentially healthy
economic growth that offers room for investments in knowledge and
innovation, for example, so that the Netherlands will remain a prosperous,
sustainable, and also enterprising nation.
- For
the full cabinet period (2011-2015), average GDP growth is expected to be
1 percent, while 1.25 percent was accounted at the start of the Rutte government in late 2010. The difference is mainly caused by the economic
recession of late 2011 and early 2012.In 2012,
the inflation rate will be 2.25 percent.
- CPB
Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) expects that the
Dutch budget deficit will be 4.5 percent, or 28 billion euros, in 2013. From that year onwards, the Dutch economy is expected to
recover slowly, with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.25 percent
in 2013.
- The Netherlands
has traditionally had an open economy and the level of trade with other
countries is very
significant. According to research carried out by the Netherlands Bureau
for Economic Policy Analysis, the Netherlands earns about 33% of
its income from the export of goods and services. In 2011, the value of
exports was 84.2% of the Netherlands’
GDP.
- As
the fifth largest exporter of goods in the world, the Netherlands
occupies a prominent position when it comes to world trade. In 2010, the Netherlands
exported goods worth a total of more than 574 billion US dollars. The
Netherlands is also a significant exporter of commercial services - exports of commercial
services amounted to 111.3 billion US dollars (81.9 billion Euro, CBS,
2012) in 2010, which placed the country ninth in the world rankings.
- As
well as being a major exporter, the Netherlands also imports large quantities of
goods: almost 518 billion US dollars worth in 2010. With a 3.4% share of
the global total, the country is the seventh largest importer of goods in
the world. The Netherlands
is also a significant importer of commercial services - imports of
commercial services amounted to 109 billion US dollars in 2010, which
placed the Netherlands
eighth in the world rankings.
- The
rate of unemployment in the Netherlands
is one of the lowest in Europe. From 2006
to 2010, an average of 3.4% of the potential working population was unemployed, while the
corresponding rate in the euro countries was 8.5%. The economic crisis has
led to an increase in unemployment in the Netherlands to 4.8% in October
2011 (Eurostat, 2011), but this is still far
below the average of neighbouring countries. Youth unemployment is very
low in the Netherlands.
In October 2011, 8.2% of Holland's
potential working population under-25 was jobless, compared to the average
of 22.0% in the EU-27.
- The
total amount of Dutch investments in other countries is considerable. In late 2010,
investments overseas totalled in excess of 890 billion US dollars, making
the country the seventh largest foreign investor in the world.
- According
to the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, the country has provided a home for around
8,000 foreign companies, including the likes of BASF, Cisco Systems,
Microsoft, Nike, Sabic, Siemens and Yakult. Foreign
companies have made direct investments worth 590 billion US dollars. As a
result, the Netherlands
is the world’s eighth-largest recipient of foreign investment, with
foreign investors providing 15% of the total number of jobs in the Netherlands.
From:
NL EVD International
ID: 2562
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