Our Market

Below provides a profile of the Western Europe regional market overall, and interesting facts and information about issues important to both Netherlands and foreign executives working in Amsterdam.

Gateway to Europe
With its favourable location to the European hinterland, half of all European consumers are within a few hundred kilometres of the Netherlands, and its good infrastructure, such as the Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands has become an important hub. 

The main Dutch trading partners are Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and China. Germany is the by far the biggest trading partner of the Netherlands with approximately 25% of all imports and exports involving this neighbour country. The most rapid growth in trade has been with non-EU countries such as Russia, China and India.

The most important sectors in the Netherlands include: Financial Services, Life Sciences, Transport & logistics, Maritime & Water, High-tech materials, Software and Nanotechnology, Polymers and Agriculture. 

Economic outlook
The rate of unemployment in the Netherlands is one of the lowest in Europe. The average unemployment rate between 2002 and 2007 was at an average of 4% compared to an average of 8.0% in the euro countries. The Netherlands is one of the wealthiest nations in the European Union with only Luxembourg and Ireland having higher per capita earnings.

Economic growth in the Netherlands is expected to come to a halt due to a number of developments including the effects of the credit crisis. The Dutch economy is set to decline by an estimated 3.5% in 2009. One of the main reasons for this is because the open Dutch economy depends to a large extent on world trade.

Investment Climate
The combination of a strategic geographic location, a highly educated labour force and several tax incentives have made the Netherlands the world’s seventh-largest recipient of foreign investment. 

The rate of corporation tax has been gradually and quite substantially reduced in recent years and currently amounts to approximately 25%. This is competitive in comparison with other EU countries. Additionally, capital duty has been abolished, and a separate tax category has been formed for patents as a means of encouraging investment in innovation.

Geographic Profile
The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. About one third of the Dutch land area is below sea level. The country is heavily protected against the water by an extensive system of dikes, hydraulic systems and drainage mills.

The North Sea oil and the natural gas in the province of Groningen are the Netherlands’ main natural resources.

The economic centre of the country is often referred to as the Randstad. This is the metropolitan area in the west of the country includes the four largest Dutch cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. The population of the Randstad is approximately 10 million.

Total Area
33,873 km2

Population
16.428.360 

Official language
Dutch

Political Structure
parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Capital
Amsterdam

Currency
Euro