Research and development; personnel, expenditure, company size, branch

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Company size Sector/branches (SIC2008) R&D personnel Employed persons (number) R&D personnel Years of work (number) Expenditure R&D on in-house activities (mln euro) Enterprises with in-house R&D activities (number)
Total A-U All economic activities 202,991 147,342 18,721 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 5,446 3,621 373 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 73,160 57,837 9,167 .
B Mining and quarrying 442 202 23 .
C Manufacturing 71,339 56,892 9,046 .
D Energy supply 755 444 68 .
E Water supply and waste management 624 299 30 .
F Construction 2,248 1,182 109 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 17,243 11,318 1,146 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 15,829 10,289 1,002 .
H Transportation and storage 1,326 981 140 .
I Accommodation and food serving 88 49 4 .
J Information and communication 41,765 30,083 2,680 .
K Financial institutions 5,511 4,065 501 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 127 78 7 .
M-N Business services 46,568 33,250 4,074 .
M Other specialised business services 40,070 28,279 3,281 .
N Renting and other business support 6,498 4,972 793 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
0 to 49 employed persons A-U All economic activities 55,201 30,857 2,461 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1,628 762 62 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 12,486 6,487 519 .
B Mining and quarrying . . . .
C Manufacturing 12,023 6,259 501 .
D Energy supply 218 132 11 .
E Water supply and waste management . . . .
F Construction 704 344 27 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 5,548 3,351 245 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 5,300 3,202 219 .
H Transportation and storage 228 140 25 .
I Accommodation and food serving 21 9 1 .
J Information and communication 15,358 9,108 641 .
K Financial institutions 948 436 35 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 86 41 3 .
M-N Business services 17,125 9,874 886 .
M Other specialised business services . . . .
N Renting and other business support . . . .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
50 to 249 employed persons A-U All economic activities 47,238 34,148 3,693 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2,116 1,475 178 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 15,849 10,769 1,185 .
B Mining and quarrying 97 71 9 .
C Manufacturing 15,399 10,468 1,151 .
D Energy supply 174 139 15 .
E Water supply and waste management 179 92 9 .
F Construction 619 338 25 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 5,139 4,174 466 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 4,979 4,049 451 .
H Transportation and storage 133 109 13 .
I Accommodation and food serving 27 16 1 .
J Information and communication 9,713 7,467 697 .
K Financial institutions 848 667 81 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 0 0 0 .
M-N Business services 11,174 8,128 957 .
M Other specialised business services 10,353 7,566 915 .
N Renting and other business support 821 562 43 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
250 and more employed persons A-U All economic activities 100,552 82,338 12,567 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1,701 1,384 133 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 44,825 40,581 7,463 .
B Mining and quarrying . . . .
C Manufacturing 43,917 40,165 7,394 .
D Energy supply 363 174 42 .
E Water supply and waste management . . . .
F Construction 925 500 57 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 6,555 3,793 436 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 5,550 3,038 332 .
H Transportation and storage 965 731 102 .
I Accommodation and food serving 40 24 2 .
J Information and communication 16,694 13,508 1,342 .
K Financial institutions 3,716 2,962 385 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 40 37 3 .
M-N Business services 18,269 15,248 2,230 .
M Other specialised business services . . . .
N Renting and other business support . . . .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table contains figures regarding enterprises that conduct in-house Research and Development (R&D) activities with own or external personnel. Additionally figures are available regarding the personnel and the expenditure related to these R&D activities.

The figures are broken down by company size and branch of industry according to the Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (SIC 2008).

The R&D activities are conducted in-house by own or external personnel in the Netherlands. Outsourced R&D is not included in this table. Furthermore, this table only concerns the "businesses" sector. The sectors "institutions" and "higher education" are not included in this table.

Data available from: 2013

Status of the figures:
The data regarding 2013-2021 are definitive and the data regarding 2022-2024 are revised provisional.

Changes as of 20 July 2026:
The revised provisional figures about 2024 have been published.

As of statistical year 2022, a new sample design and weighting method are used for this statistic. This makes the published data more accurate, but this change does mean that for the moment the figures on the number of R&D firms cannot be published.

When will new figures be published?
Mid 2027 the figures about 2025 will be published.

Description topics

R&D personnel
The personnel that conducts the in-house R&D activities, expressed in numbers of employed persons and years of work.
Employed persons
Someone working for a company located in the Netherlands, or for an institution or private household in the Netherlands.

In order to be included in the R&D personnel an employed person needs to spend at least 0,1 FTE annually on R&D related activities.

Employed persons are all persons having paid jobs, even for only one or some hours a week, and even if they:
- work legally as such, but without registration for income tax and social security (“undeclared work”);
- are temporarily not at work, but have continued receipt of wages or salary (for instance in case of illness or hold-ups due to frost);
- are on a temporary unpaid-leave.
Employed persons can be divided into employees and the self-employed persons. They can live in the Netherlands, but also abroad.

Years of work
A measure for the volume of work, calculated by converting all jobs (full-time and part-time) into full-time jobs, also known as full-time equivalents (FTE).

As such, when combined, the volume of work of two half jobs (0.5 FTE each) totals one year of work.
Expenditure R&D on in-house activities
Enterprises with in-house R&D activities