Labour participation; key figures

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Labour participation; key figures
Sex Age Highest educational level Periods Labour force and not in the labour force (x 1 000) Labour force Labour force (x 1 000) Labour force Employed labour force Employed labour force (x 1 000) Labour force Unemployed labour force (x 1 000) Labour force Unemployment rate (%) Not in the labour force (x 1 000) Gross labour participation rate (%) Net labour participation rate (%)
Total male and female 15 to 74 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 13,310 10,079 9,731 348 3.4 3,231 75.7 73.1
Total male and female 15 to 74 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 3,500 2,116 1,994 121 5.7 1,384 60.5 57.0
Total male and female 15 to 74 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 4,924 3,836 3,719 117 3.1 1,089 77.9 75.5
Total male and female 15 to 74 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 4,812 4,090 3,983 107 2.6 722 85.0 82.8
Total male and female 15 to 74 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 74 38 36 2 5.6 36 51.2 48.4
Total male and female 15 to 24 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 2,167 1,818 1,669 148 8.2 349 83.9 77.0
Total male and female 15 to 24 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 937 732 647 86 11.7 205 78.2 69.0
Total male and female 15 to 24 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 950 834 785 49 5.9 116 87.8 82.6
Total male and female 15 to 24 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 278 250 236 14 5.5 28 90.0 85.1
Total male and female 15 to 24 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 2 2 2 0 . 1 . .
Total male and female 15 to 64 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 11,375 9,719 9,384 335 3.4 1,656 85.4 82.5
Total male and female 15 to 64 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 2,708 1,999 1,880 119 5.9 709 73.8 69.4
Total male and female 15 to 64 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 4,287 3,715 3,601 114 3.1 572 86.7 84.0
Total male and female 15 to 64 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 4,314 3,967 3,867 100 2.5 347 91.9 89.6
Total male and female 15 to 64 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 65 38 36 2 5.6 27 58.1 54.9
Total male and female 25 to 44 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 4,478 4,030 3,918 111 2.8 448 90.0 87.5
Total male and female 25 to 44 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 585 439 421 18 4.1 146 75.0 71.9
Total male and female 25 to 44 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 1,539 1,374 1,338 36 2.6 164 89.3 87.0
Total male and female 25 to 44 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 2,326 2,197 2,141 56 2.5 129 94.5 92.1
Total male and female 25 to 44 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 28 19 18 1 . 9 . .
Total male and female 25 to 34 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 2,319 2,092 2,024 68 3.2 227 90.2 87.3
Total male and female 25 to 34 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 250 186 174 11 6.2 65 74.1 69.5
Total male and female 25 to 34 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 810 719 694 24 3.4 91 88.7 85.7
Total male and female 25 to 34 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 1,245 1,178 1,146 32 2.7 67 94.6 92.0
Total male and female 25 to 34 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 14 10 10 0 . 4 . .
Total male and female 35 to 44 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 2,159 1,938 1,894 43 2.2 221 89.7 87.7
Total male and female 35 to 44 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 335 254 247 7 2.6 81 75.7 73.7
Total male and female 35 to 44 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 729 656 644 12 1.8 73 90.0 88.3
Total male and female 35 to 44 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 1,081 1,019 995 24 2.3 62 94.3 92.1
Total male and female 35 to 44 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 14 9 8 1 . 5 . .
Total male and female 45 to 54 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 2,299 2,008 1,971 37 1.9 291 87.3 85.7
Total male and female 45 to 54 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 461 340 333 7 2.0 121 73.8 72.3
Total male and female 45 to 54 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 866 768 754 14 1.8 99 88.6 87.0
Total male and female 45 to 54 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 957 894 877 16 1.8 63 93.4 91.7
Total male and female 45 to 54 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 15 7 7 0 . 8 . .
Total male and female 45 to 64 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 4,730 3,872 3,796 76 2.0 859 81.8 80.3
Total male and female 45 to 64 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 1,186 828 813 15 1.8 358 69.8 68.5
Total male and female 45 to 64 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 1,799 1,507 1,478 29 1.9 291 83.8 82.2
Total male and female 45 to 64 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 1,710 1,520 1,489 30 2.0 191 88.8 87.1
Total male and female 45 to 64 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 35 17 16 1 . 18 48.9 45.6
Total male and female 45 to 74 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 6,666 4,232 4,144 88 2.1 2,434 63.5 62.2
Total male and female 45 to 74 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 1,977 944 927 18 1.9 1,033 47.7 46.9
Total male and female 45 to 74 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 2,436 1,628 1,596 32 2.0 808 66.8 65.5
Total male and female 45 to 74 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 2,208 1,643 1,605 37 2.3 566 74.4 72.7
Total male and female 45 to 74 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 44 17 16 1 . 27 39.0 36.5
Total male and female 55 to 64 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 2,431 1,863 1,825 38 2.1 568 76.6 75.1
Total male and female 55 to 64 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 725 488 479 8 1.7 238 67.2 66.1
Total male and female 55 to 64 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 932 740 724 15 2.1 193 79.3 77.7
Total male and female 55 to 64 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 753 626 612 14 2.2 127 83.1 81.2
Total male and female 55 to 64 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 20 10 9 1 . 10 . .
Total male and female 65 to 74 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,935 360 347 13 3.5 1,575 18.6 18.0
Total male and female 65 to 74 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 791 117 114 3 2.2 675 14.7 14.4
Total male and female 65 to 74 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 637 121 118 3 2.6 517 18.9 18.5
Total male and female 65 to 74 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 498 123 116 7 5.8 375 24.7 23.3
Total male and female 65 to 74 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 9 0 0 0 . 9 . .
Total male and female 15 to 19 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,007 806 720 86 10.7 200 80.1 71.6
Total male and female 15 to 19 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 771 598 525 72 12.1 173 77.6 68.2
Total male and female 15 to 19 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 232 205 192 13 6.4 27 88.4 82.7
Total male and female 15 to 19 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 4 3 3 0 . 1 . .
Total male and female 15 to 19 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 0 0 0 0 . 0 . .
Total male and female 20 to 24 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,160 1,011 949 62 6.2 149 87.2 81.8
Total male and female 20 to 24 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 167 135 121 13 9.7 32 80.8 72.9
Total male and female 20 to 24 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 717 628 592 36 5.7 89 87.6 82.6
Total male and female 20 to 24 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 274 247 233 13 5.4 27 90.1 85.2
Total male and female 20 to 24 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 2 2 2 0 . 1 . .
Total male and female 25 to 29 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,146 1,034 992 42 4.0 112 90.2 86.6
Total male and female 25 to 29 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 110 82 76 6 7.5 27 75.3 69.6
Total male and female 25 to 29 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 415 368 352 15 4.1 47 88.7 85.0
Total male and female 25 to 29 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 619 583 562 20 3.5 36 94.1 90.8
Total male and female 25 to 29 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 2 1 1 0 . 1 . .
Total male and female 30 to 34 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,173 1,058 1,032 26 2.5 115 90.2 88.0
Total male and female 30 to 34 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 141 103 98 5 5.1 38 73.2 69.5
Total male and female 30 to 34 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 395 351 342 9 2.6 44 88.8 86.5
Total male and female 30 to 34 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 626 596 584 12 2.0 31 95.1 93.2
Total male and female 30 to 34 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 11 9 9 0 . 2 . .
Total male and female 35 to 39 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,106 995 972 24 2.4 110 90.0 87.9
Total male and female 35 to 39 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 157 116 112 4 3.7 41 74.1 71.4
Total male and female 35 to 39 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 378 342 335 6 1.8 37 90.3 88.7
Total male and female 35 to 39 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 562 531 519 13 2.4 31 94.5 92.2
Total male and female 35 to 39 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 8 6 5 0 . 2 . .
Total male and female 40 to 44 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,054 943 923 20 2.1 111 89.5 87.6
Total male and female 40 to 44 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 178 137 135 2 1.7 41 77.1 75.8
Total male and female 40 to 44 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 351 314 308 6 1.9 36 89.6 87.9
Total male and female 40 to 44 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 518 488 477 11 2.2 31 94.1 92.0
Total male and female 40 to 44 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 7 4 3 1 . 3 . .
Total male and female 45 to 49 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,043 930 910 20 2.1 113 89.1 87.2
Total male and female 45 to 49 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 183 138 134 4 2.6 45 75.3 73.3
Total male and female 45 to 49 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 376 336 328 8 2.4 40 89.5 87.3
Total male and female 45 to 49 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 479 453 445 8 1.8 26 94.5 92.8
Total male and female 45 to 49 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 5 3 3 0 . 2 . .
Total male and female 50 to 54 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,256 1,079 1,061 17 1.6 178 85.9 84.5
Total male and female 50 to 54 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 277 202 199 3 1.6 75 72.8 71.6
Total male and female 50 to 54 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 491 432 426 6 1.3 59 87.9 86.8
Total male and female 50 to 54 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 478 441 433 8 1.8 37 92.3 90.6
Total male and female 50 to 54 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 10 4 4 0 . 6 . .
Total male and female 55 to 59 years Total 2023 2nd quarter 1,254 1,050 1,033 18 1.7 203 83.8 82.4
Total male and female 55 to 59 years 1 Lower education 2023 2nd quarter 338 249 245 5 1.8 88 73.9 72.5
Total male and female 55 to 59 years 2 Intermediate education 2023 2nd quarter 508 441 434 8 1.7 67 86.9 85.4
Total male and female 55 to 59 years 3 Higher education 2023 2nd quarter 398 354 349 6 1.6 44 89.0 87.6
Total male and female 55 to 59 years Unknown 2023 2nd quarter 10 5 5 0 . 4 . .
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Dataset is not available.


This table contains quarterly and yearly figures on labour participation in the Netherlands. The population of 15 to 74 years of age (excluding the institutionalized population) is divided into the employed labour force, the unemployed labour force and those not in the labour force. The employed labour force is subdivided on the basis of the professional status, and the average working hours. A division by sex, age and level of education is available.

Data available from: 2013

Status of the figures:
The figures in this table are final.

Changes as of August 16, 2023:
The figures for 2nd quarter 2023 are added.

Changes as of August 17, 2022:
None, this is a new table. This table has been compiled on the basis of the Labor Force Survey (LFS). Due to changes in the research design and the questionnaire of the LFS, the figures for 2021 are not automatically comparable with the figures up to and including 2020. The key figures in this table have therefore been made consistent with the (non-seasonally adjusted) figures in the table Arbeidsdeelname, kerncijfers seizoengecorrigeerd (see section 4), in which the outcomes for the period 2013-2020 have been recalculated to align with the outcomes from 2021. When further detailing the outcomes according to job and personal characteristics, there may nevertheless be differences from 2020 to 2021 as a result of the new method.

When will new figures be released?
New figures will be published on November 14, 2023.

Description topics

Labour force and not in the labour force
People who are part of the employed labour force, the unemployed labour force or who are not in the labour force.

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 75 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.

Labour force
People
- who have paid work (employed labour force), or
- who don’t have paid work, recently looked for work and are directly available for it (unemployed labour force).

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.
Labour force
People
- who have paid work (employed labour force), or
- who don’t have paid work, recently looked for work and are directly available for it (unemployed labour force).

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.

Employed labour force
People who have paid work.

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.
Employed labour force
People who have paid work.

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.
Unemployed labour force
People who don’t have paid work, recently looked for work and are directly available for it.

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.

Unemployment rate
The unemployed labour force as a percentage of the (employed and unemployed) labour force.

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old.
Not in the labour force
People who don’t have paid work, who haven’t recently looked for work recently or are not directly available for it.

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.

Gross labour participation rate
The percentage of the (employed and unemployed) labour force in the population (labour force and not in the labour force).

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old.
Net labour participation rate
The percentage of the employed labour force in the population (labour force and not in the labour force).

This definition concerns people who live in the Netherlands (excluding the institutionalized population). The figures are usually presented for the population aged 15 to 74 years old.