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 197,370 140,132 16,711 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 4,813 3,228 369 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 70,748 55,872 8,497 .
B Mining and quarrying 453 200 32 .
C Manufacturing 68,879 54,860 8,380 .
10-12 Manufacture of food and beverages 4,070 3,298 404 .
10 Manufacture of food products 3,956 3,222 399 .
11 Manufacture of beverages . . . .
12 Manufacture of tobacco products . . . .
13-15 Man. of textile-, leatherproducts 600 417 45 .
13 Manufacture of textiles 452 313 34 .
14 Manufacture of wearing apparel 32 15 1 .
15 Manufacture of leather and footwear 115 88 10 .
16+23 Man of wooden and buildingmaterial 1,166 561 46 .
16 Manufacture of wood products 379 160 11 .
17-18 Manufacture of paper and printing 806 489 47 .
17 Manufacture of paper 586 352 38 .
18 Printing and reproduction 219 136 9 .
19-22 Refineries and chemistry 9,812 8,428 1,316 .
19 Manufacture of coke and petroleum . . . .
20-21 Chemistry and pharmaceuticals 7,192 6,415 922 .
20 Manufacture of chemicals 4,681 4,151 608 .
21 Manufacture of pharmaceuticals 2,512 2,264 315 .
22 Manufacture rubber, plastic products . . . .
23 Manufacture of building materials 787 402 34 .
24-30, 33 Metalectro 50,749 40,522 6,432 .
24-25 Man. of basic metals and -products 5,204 2,698 273 .
24 Manufacture of basic metals 982 701 101 .
25 Manufacture of metal products 4,222 1,997 172 .
26-28 Manufact of electronics, machinery 39,909 34,000 5,814 .
26-27 Elektrical and electron. Industry 13,567 11,706 1,659 .
26 Manufacture of electronic products 9,284 8,143 1,254 .
27 Manufacture of electric equipment 4,283 3,563 404 .
28 Manufacture of machinery n.e.c. 26,342 22,294 4,156 .
29-30 Transport equipment 4,087 2,978 275 .
29 Manufacture of cars and trailers 2,310 2,032 194 .
30 Manufacture of other transport 1,777 946 81 .
31 Manufacture of furniture 264 135 10 .
32 Manufacture of other products 1,414 1,009 80 .
33 Repair and installation of machinery 1,549 845 69 .
D Energy supply 664 427 48 .
35 Energy supply 664 427 48 .
E Water supply and waste management 752 385 37 .
F Construction 2,307 1,310 143 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 18,416 12,233 1,134 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 16,237 10,556 966 .
H Transportation and storage 2,104 1,648 167 .
I Accommodation and food serving 75 29 2 .
J Information and communication 39,712 28,487 2,265 .
58-60 Publishing, movie, radio and TV . . . .
58 Publishing 1,502 1,091 146 .
59 Film, TV and music production etc . . . .
60 Programming and broadcasting . . . .
61 Telecommunications . . . .
62-63 IT- and information services 31,896 22,280 1,805 .
62 Support activities in the field of IT 29,392 20,516 1,634 .
63 Information service activities 2,504 1,764 171 .
K Financial institutions 8,160 4,842 542 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 89 43 3 .
68 Renting, buying, selling real estate 89 43 3 .
M-N Business services 43,057 28,747 3,188 .
M Other specialised business services 38,674 26,740 3,018 .
69-71 Management, technical consultancy 15,534 8,151 696 .
69 Legal services, administration etc. 722 437 45 .
70 Holding companies (not financial) 3,662 1,776 152 .
71 Architects, technical services etc. 11,150 5,938 498 .
72 Research and development 19,747 16,517 2,151 .
73-75 Advertising, design and other 3,393 2,072 171 .
73 Advertising and market research 1,638 1,258 112 .
74 Other specialised business services . . . .
75 Veterinary activities . . . .
N Renting and other business support 4,383 2,006 170 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
84 Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
85 Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
87-88 Care and social work . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
99 Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
0 to 49 employed persons A-U All economic activities 57,175 31,385 2,302 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1,373 532 32 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 12,305 6,384 480 .
B Mining and quarrying . . . .
C Manufacturing 11,863 6,140 463 .
10-12 Manufacture of food and beverages 439 170 12 .
10 Manufacture of food products . . . .
11 Manufacture of beverages 48 29 2 .
12 Manufacture of tobacco products . . . .
13-15 Man. of textile-, leatherproducts 238 130 9 .
13 Manufacture of textiles . . . .
14 Manufacture of wearing apparel . . . .
15 Manufacture of leather and footwear . . . .
16+23 Man of wooden and buildingmaterial . . . .
16 Manufacture of wood products . . . .
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 2022-2023 are revised provisional.

Changes as of 15 August 2025:
The revised provisional figures about 2023 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 yet.

When will new figures be published?
Mid 2026 the figures about 2024 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