Netherlands: Facts & Stats

ECONOMY

Services account for more than half of the national income and are primarily in transportation, distribution, and logistics, and in financial areas, such as banking and insurance. Industrial activity, including mining, generates about 20% of the national product and is dominated by the metalworking, oil refining, chemical, and food-processing industries. Construction amounts to about 6% of GDP. Agriculture and fishing, although visible and traditional Dutch activities, account for just 2%.

Industry:

Although it has declined as a percentage of the nation's GDP, industry remains a viable component of the Dutch economy, contributing 26.8 percent to GDP in 1998. Dutch industry is diversified and includes a variety of businesses that range from manufacturing, mining, and energy production to construction and chemical manufacturing. The government has undertaken a variety of programs to encourage the development of new industries in the kingdom and to bring industry to areas of the country that are economically depressed. Specifically, the government has encouraged growth in the aerospace industry, biotechnology, and microelectronics.

Agriculture:

More than 27% of the total land area of the Netherlands is under seasonal or permanent crop production. Grasslands account for about 54% of all agricultural lands. Most farms are effectively managed and worked intensively with mechanical equipment. The many cooperatives have added to the efficiency of production and distribution.

Although agricultural production has decreased in recent years, labor productivity in Dutch agricultural and horticultural industries has risen sharply. The number of holdings declined by over 17% from the mid–1970s to the mid–1980s; in 2000 there were 51,725 arable holdings. The agricultural labor force totaled 254,000 in 1999.

Much of the soil in the east and southeast is poor. Moreover, large regions are so moist because of their low altitude that only grass can be grown profitably, a condition that has led to the enormous development of the dairy industry. The best land is found in reclaimed polders. Principal crops and output in 2002 (in millions of kg) were sugar beets, 6,250; potatoes, 7,363; wheat, 1,057; barley, 315; rye, 17; and triticale, 24.

The Netherlands is famous for its bulbs grown for export, principally tulip, hyacinth, daffodil, narcissus, and crocus. Flower growing is centered at Aalsmeer (near Amsterdam), and nurseries are situated mainly at Boskoop. Bulb growing, done principally at Lisse and Hillegom, between Haarlem and Leiden, has been extended in recent years to areas of North Holland. In 2000, land area for growing bulbs totaled 22,543 hectares (55,700 acres).

Trade and Investment:

The Netherlands, which derives more than two-thirds of GDP from merchandise trade, had strongly positive balance of payments for 2005 estimated at €31.5 billion. Leading export markets (2005) are Germany with 25.1%, Belgium with 12.2% and the United Kingdom and France with both 9.4%. Leading suppliers (2004) are Germany (17%), Belgium (9.4%), China (8.8%) and the United States (7.8%). As becomes clear from these figures, Germany is by far the most important trading partner of The Netherlands.

Leading foreign investors in the Netherlands (2005) are the United States with 18.5%, the United Kingdom (14.1%), Germany (12.0%) and Belgium (10.1%).

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