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With a population of over 16 million people squashed into approx 40,000 sq km, in The Netherlands space is at a premium and it’s not a cheap place to live, but don’t let that put you off, it’s one of the most economically developed countries in the world, politically stable and a tolerant and welcoming society.

The Netherlands economic success these days is mainly built around the Service sector with services accounting for more than half of the national income. The major service industries are Transportation, Logistics and Finance – banking and insurance in particular – but the Electronics industry is also a major employer and Hi-Tech companies and innovative start-ups are also gaining international recognition.
Traditional industrial activity, such as mining, metalworking, oil refining, chemical, and food-processing industries make up about 20% of the economy and include some of the biggest global names such as Royal Dutch Shell. Construction amounts to about 6% of GDP and whilst a large proportion of the land is given over to agriculture it only makes up around 2% of the economy.

The Dutch are also massive exporters of products and services, the world’s fifth largest by some counts and many of those products are household names around the globe. The fact that so much business is done with foreign countries is a real selling point for those of you with multilingual skills as language skills are a must in many export-based businesses.

In conclusion The Netherlands is a fantastic place to come and work, it has a buoyant economy operating in many industries and punches well above its weight as a small country on the International business stage making it a prime target for anyone looking to work abroad.

To find out what you need to come and work here, check out our article on work permits.