The document is a 2016 OECD Economic Survey of the Netherlands that discusses several key economic indicators and policies. It finds that while the Dutch economy has recovered from the global financial crisis and unemployment is decreasing, productivity growth has been flat. It recommends boosting private investment, increasing support for research and development, and strengthening skills training particularly for immigrants and disadvantaged groups to help unleash productivity. Overall the survey provides an assessment of the Dutch economy and policy areas that could be improved to further support growth, employment, and living standards.

1. www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-netherlands.htm
2016 OECD ECONOMIC SURVEY
OF THE NETHERLANDS
@OECD
@OECDeconomy
Unleashing productivity
The Hague, 3 March 2016

2. The context
2

3. Well-being is high
3
Source: OECD (2015), OECD Better Life Index.
0
2
4
6
8
10
Income and wealth
Jobs and earnings
Housing
Work and life balance
Health status
Education and skillsSocial connections
Civic engagement and governance
Environmental quality
Personal security
Subjective well-being
Well-being outcomes
Better Life Index, 2015
Netherlands
OECD

4. Growth has picked up
4
Source: OECD (2016), OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database), February.
94
96
98
100
102
104
106
108
110
94
96
98
100
102
104
106
108
110
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Real GDP
Index 2008 Q1 = 100
Netherlands OECD Euro area

5. Unemployment is decreasing
5
Source: Eurostat (2016), Employment and unemployment (Labour Force Survey) (database), January.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Unemployment
As a percentage of the labour force
Unemployment Long-term unemployment

6. Fiscal sustainability is healthy
6
Source: Calculations based on OECD (2016), OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database), February and
European Commission (2015), "The 2015 Ageing Report: Economic and budgetary projections for the 28 EU Member States
(2013-2060)", Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025 2028 2031 2034 2037 2040
Public debt simulation
General government gross debt, Maastricht definition, as a percentage of GDP
Baseline
No productivity growth
Without offsetting rising ageing-related costs

7. House prices are rising
7
Source: Statistics Netherlands (2016), "House Price Index; existing, Netherlands", in Construction and housing, Statline, January.
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
House prices
Index 2007 = 100
Netherlands Big cities

8. Productivity has been flat
8
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Labour productivity
Real GDP (USD 2010 PPPs) per total hours worked, index 2007 = 100
Netherlands OECD Euro area
Source: OECD (2016), OECD Productivity Statistics (database), February.

9. Fiscal policies
9

10. Budget deficit is low
10
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Budget deficit
As a percentage of GDP
Overall deficit
Structural deficit
Source: OECD (2016), OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database), February.

11. Tax reform was not adopted
11
 Increase tax efficiency, notably by accelerating the reduction of mortgage
interest rate relief and phasing out lower VAT rate, while keeping the tax reform
fiscally neutral.
Source: OECD (2014), Consumption Tax Trends 2014: VAT/GST and Excise Rates, Trends and Policy Issues.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
MEX
GRC
ITA
TUR
ESP
POL
SVK
GBR
IRL
ISL
PRT
AUS
BEL
FRA
CAN
HUN
NLD
DEU
OECD
FIN
SWE
NOR
CZE
SVN
DNK
AUT
CHL
ISR
KOR
JPN
EST
CHE
NZL
LUX
Value-added tax revenue ratio
As a percentage, 2012

12. Self-employment is expanding rapidly
12
 Reconsider the degree of tax incentives for self-employed, and explore
alternatives for ensuring they build adequate savings for disability, and ageing
risks if needed.
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Self-employment
Contributions to the change in total employment since 2003 Q1, thousand
Employees Self-employed
Source: Statistics Netherlands (2016), "Employment, quarterly", in Labour and social security, Statline, February.

13. Bolstering private investment
13

14. Total investment is recovering from a low level
14
Source: OECD (2016), OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database), February.
16
18
20
22
24
26
16
18
20
22
24
26
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Total investment
As percentage of GDP, 4-quarter cumulative
Netherlands OECD Euro area

15. Low housing investment risks creating shortages
15
 Support the supply of rental housing by further limiting strict rent regulation
in the private market.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Residential investment
As a percentage of GDP, 4-quarter cumulative
Source: OECD (2016), OECD Economic Outlook: Statistics and Projections (database), February.

16. Private R&D spending is low
16
 Step up efforts to strengthen innovation performance by increasing direct public
support for R&D
Source: OECD (2015), OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2015: Innovation for growth and society.
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
CHL
MEX
GRC
POL
SVK
TUR
NZL
PRT
ITA
ESP
CAN
EST
NOR
HUN
GBR
CZE
NLD
IRL
AUS
ISL
FRA
BEL
USA
DEU
SVN
DNK
AUT
CHE
SWE
FIN
JPN
KOR
ISR
Business R&D intensity
As a percentage of GDP, 2013 or latest year available

17. Renewable energy is below target
17
 Ensure stronger investment in renewables and energy efficiency by improving
cost-effectiveness of existing instruments and possibly increasing their scale.
Source: Eurostat (2016), "Climate change and energy", in Europe 2020 Indicators, February.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
LUX
NLD
GBR
BEL
IRL
HUN
POL
SVK
CZE
DEU
FRA
GRC
EU28
ESP
ITA
SVN
EST
PRT
DNK
AUT
FIN
SWE
NOR
ISL
Renewable energy
Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, percentage
2014 2020 Target

18. Credit for SMEs is tight
18
 Increase competition in the market for SME loans by considering the creation
of a credit register for companies, based on standard reporting data if possible.
Source: ECB (2016), "Survey on Access to Finance of Enterprises", Statistical Data Warehouse, European Central Bank, January.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
FIN DEU AUT BEL ITA EMU ESP FRA PRT GRC IRL NLD
Rejection rates of credits to SMEs
As a percentage of respondents of SMEs applying for a loan, April to September 2015

19. Boosting skills for all
19

20. Skills are strong
20
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
ITA
ESP
FRA
IRL
POL
AUT
USA
DEU
DNK
GBR
KOR
OECDPIAAC
CAN
SVK
CZE
BEL
EST
NOR
SWE
AUS
NLD
FIN
JPN
PIAAC literacy proficiency
Literacy score point
Source: OECD (2013), OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.

21. Skills of some groups, mainly migrants, lag behind
21
 Raise the quality of early childhood education and care further and foster generic
skills in vocational education and training. Further raise teachers’ qualification, in
particular in disadvantaged schools, and subsequently their wages.
Source: OECD (2013), OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
First
generation
immigrants
Less
educated
Second
generation
immigrants
Old Less
educated
parents
Natives Youth More
educated
parents
More
educated
PIAAC literacy proficiency by socio-demographic groups
Literacy score point
Netherlands OECD PIAAC average

22. Job market polarisation requires adaptability
22
 Enhance entrepreneurial skills by evaluating the effectiveness of programmes in
formal education, developing online stand-alone training programmes, and
promoting peer-to-peer learning.
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
1996-2008 2009-10 2012-14
Average annual change in total employment in the Netherlands by occupation
categories requiring different tasks
Thousand employed persons
Non-routine manual Routine manual Abstract
Source: Eurostat (2015), Employment and unemployment (Labour Force Survey) (database), October.

23. Immigrants are less active on the labour market
than natives
23
 Strengthen the provision of public employment services, and create
programmes combining work experience and on-the-job training as well as
language courses for immigrants.
Source: OECD (2015), "Employment, unemployment and participation rates by sex and place of birth", OECD International
Migration Statistics (database), October.
-15
-12
-9
-6
-3
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
-15
-12
-9
-6
-3
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
SWE
NLD
BEL
DNK
FRA
FIN
AUT
MEX
DEU
NOR
SVN
CHE
ESP
NZL
AUS
GBR
CAN
OECD
EST
ISL
IRL
GRC
POL
USA
CZE
ITA
PRT
TUR
SVK
ISR
HUN
LUX
CHL
Differences in employment rates between foreign-born and native-born
Working-age population, percentage points, 2014

24. Temporary employment is high
24
 Further reduce the cap on severance payments to make permanent contracts more
attractive to employers.
Source: OECD (2015), OECD Employment and Labour Market Statistics (database), November.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
EST
GBR
AUT
JPN
AUS
NOR
LUX
DNK
IRL
CHE
BEL
SVK
CZE
OECD
DEU
HUN
CAN
ISL
TUR
GRC
FRA
SWE
ITA
FIN
SVN
NLD
KOR
PRT
ESP
POL
CHL
Temporary employment
Prime-age workers (25-54 year-olds), as a percentage of total employment, 2014

25. More Information…
www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-netherlands.htm
OECD
OECD Economics
25
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