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 29-30 Transport equipment 4,087 2,978 275 .
30 Manufacture of other transport 1,777 946 81 .
E Water supply and waste management 752 385 37 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 18,416 12,233 1,134 .
H Transportation and storage 2,104 1,648 167 .
0 to 49 employed persons 29-30 Transport equipment 596 306 25 .
30 Manufacture of other transport . . . .
E Water supply and waste management . . . .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 6,073 3,625 246 .
H Transportation and storage . . . .
50 to 249 employed persons 29-30 Transport equipment 850 609 62 .
30 Manufacture of other transport 458 338 39 .
E Water supply and waste management 206 127 15 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 5,396 4,310 414 .
H Transportation and storage . . . .
250 and more employed persons 29-30 Transport equipment 2,641 2,063 188 .
30 Manufacture of other transport . . . .
E Water supply and waste management . . . .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 6,947 4,298 474 .
H Transportation and storage 1,482 1,281 136 .
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