Labour participation; key figures

Changed on: 14/02/2024 02:00

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 Unemployed labour force (x 1 000)	Labour force Unemployment rate (%)	Labour force Employed labour force Employed labour force (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Full-time (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Part-time Less than 20 working hours a week Less than 20 working hours a week (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Part-time Less than 20 working hours a week Less than 12 working hours a week (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Part-time Less than 20 working hours a week 12 to 19 working hours a week (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Part-time 20 to 34 working hours a week 20 to 34 working hours a week (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Part-time 20 to 34 working hours a week 20 to 27 working hours a week (x 1 000)	Labour force Employed labour force Working hours Part-time 20 to 34 working hours a week 28 to 34 working hours a week (x 1 000)	Not in the labour force (x 1 000)
Total male and female	15 to 74 years	Total	2023	13,326	10,096	359	3.6	9,737	5,064	1,563	880	682	3,110	1,338	1,773	3,230
Total male and female	15 to 74 years	1 Lower education	2023	3,467	2,091	120	5.7	1,971	831	627	404	223	514	264	250	1,376
Total male and female	15 to 74 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	4,935	3,844	124	3.2	3,720	1,779	647	332	315	1,294	612	683	1,091
Total male and female	15 to 74 years	3 Higher education	2023	4,848	4,121	113	2.7	4,007	2,430	284	143	141	1,294	459	835	728
Total male and female	15 to 74 years	Unknown	2023	76	40	2	4.0	39	25	5	2	3	8	3	5	36
Total male and female	15 to 24 years	Total	2023	2,169	1,808	149	8.2	1,659	404	868	579	289	387	196	192	361
Total male and female	15 to 24 years	1 Lower education	2023	908	708	78	11.0	630	83	437	319	117	110	64	46	200
Total male and female	15 to 24 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	966	836	54	6.5	782	205	364	220	143	213	106	107	130
Total male and female	15 to 24 years	3 Higher education	2023	293	263	17	6.5	246	115	67	39	28	63	25	38	30
Total male and female	15 to 24 years	Unknown	2023	2	1	0	.	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Total male and female	15 to 64 years	Total	2023	11,388	9,732	345	3.5	9,387	4,967	1,423	789	634	2,997	1,270	1,727	1,656
Total male and female	15 to 64 years	1 Lower education	2023	2,677	1,973	116	5.9	1,857	799	578	373	205	480	245	235	703
Total male and female	15 to 64 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	4,301	3,723	120	3.2	3,603	1,748	601	302	299	1,253	586	668	579
Total male and female	15 to 64 years	3 Higher education	2023	4,345	3,996	107	2.7	3,889	2,395	239	112	127	1,254	435	819	349
Total male and female	15 to 64 years	Unknown	2023	65	40	2	3.8	38	25	5	2	3	8	3	5	25
Total male and female	25 to 44 years	Total	2023	4,489	4,044	117	2.9	3,927	2,411	238	91	147	1,279	496	782	445
Total male and female	25 to 44 years	1 Lower education	2023	585	436	20	4.5	416	275	37	13	24	105	48	56	149
Total male and female	25 to 44 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	1,535	1,376	37	2.7	1,339	761	105	38	67	474	212	262	159
Total male and female	25 to 44 years	3 Higher education	2023	2,342	2,213	59	2.7	2,153	1,363	94	40	55	695	235	460	130
Total male and female	25 to 44 years	Unknown	2023	27	19	1	4.2	19	12	2	1	1	5	1	4	7
Total male and female	25 to 34 years	Total	2023	2,325	2,102	71	3.4	2,031	1,299	125	53	72	607	221	386	223
Total male and female	25 to 34 years	1 Lower education	2023	249	184	12	6.4	172	116	15	6	9	42	19	22	66
Total male and female	25 to 34 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	803	716	23	3.3	693	397	58	23	35	238	98	140	87
Total male and female	25 to 34 years	3 Higher education	2023	1,261	1,193	36	3.0	1,157	780	52	25	27	325	103	222	68
Total male and female	25 to 34 years	Unknown	2023	12	10	0	.	10	6	1	0	0	3	0	2	2
Total male and female	35 to 44 years	Total	2023	2,163	1,942	46	2.4	1,896	1,112	112	38	75	672	276	396	222
Total male and female	35 to 44 years	1 Lower education	2023	335	252	8	3.2	244	159	22	8	14	63	29	34	83
Total male and female	35 to 44 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	733	660	14	2.1	646	364	47	15	32	236	113	122	72
Total male and female	35 to 44 years	3 Higher education	2023	1,081	1,020	23	2.3	996	583	42	15	28	370	132	238	61
Total male and female	35 to 44 years	Unknown	2023	15	10	1	.	9	5	1	0	1	2	1	2	5
Total male and female	45 to 54 years	Total	2023	2,295	2,012	36	1.8	1,976	1,184	128	44	84	663	269	394	284
Total male and female	45 to 54 years	1 Lower education	2023	457	340	7	2.1	333	199	36	13	23	98	46	52	116
Total male and female	45 to 54 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	869	772	12	1.6	760	424	57	18	39	279	128	151	97
Total male and female	45 to 54 years	3 Higher education	2023	952	890	16	1.8	874	555	35	13	22	284	93	191	62
Total male and female	45 to 54 years	Unknown	2023	18	9	0	.	9	6	1	1	1	2	1	0	8
Total male and female	45 to 64 years	Total	2023	4,730	3,879	78	2.0	3,801	2,152	318	120	198	1,331	578	753	850
Total male and female	45 to 64 years	1 Lower education	2023	1,184	829	19	2.3	810	440	104	40	64	266	133	132	355
Total male and female	45 to 64 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	1,800	1,511	29	1.9	1,482	783	133	44	89	566	268	299	290
Total male and female	45 to 64 years	3 Higher education	2023	1,710	1,520	30	2.0	1,490	917	77	34	44	496	175	321	189
Total male and female	45 to 64 years	Unknown	2023	36	19	1	3.4	19	12	3	2	1	3	2	1	17
Total male and female	45 to 74 years	Total	2023	6,667	4,243	92	2.2	4,151	2,249	457	211	247	1,445	646	799	2,424
Total male and female	45 to 74 years	1 Lower education	2023	1,974	946	22	2.3	925	473	153	71	82	299	152	147	1,027
Total male and female	45 to 74 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	2,433	1,632	33	2.0	1,599	813	179	74	105	607	294	314	802
Total male and female	45 to 74 years	3 Higher education	2023	2,213	1,645	37	2.2	1,609	951	122	64	58	535	198	337	568
Total male and female	45 to 74 years	Unknown	2023	47	20	1	3.8	19	12	3	2	1	3	2	1	27
Total male and female	55 to 64 years	Total	2023	2,434	1,868	42	2.3	1,825	968	189	76	114	668	309	359	567
Total male and female	55 to 64 years	1 Lower education	2023	727	489	11	2.3	477	241	69	27	41	167	87	80	238
Total male and female	55 to 64 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	932	739	16	2.2	722	359	76	27	50	287	139	148	193
Total male and female	55 to 64 years	3 Higher education	2023	757	631	14	2.2	616	362	43	21	22	212	82	130	127
Total male and female	55 to 64 years	Unknown	2023	18	10	0	.	9	6	2	1	1	1	1	1	8
Total male and female	65 to 74 years	Total	2023	1,938	364	14	3.8	350	97	139	91	49	114	68	46	1,574
Total male and female	65 to 74 years	1 Lower education	2023	790	117	3	2.7	114	32	49	31	18	33	19	15	673
Total male and female	65 to 74 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	633	121	4	3.5	117	30	46	29	16	41	26	15	512
Total male and female	65 to 74 years	3 Higher education	2023	503	125	6	5.0	119	34	45	31	14	40	23	16	378
Total male and female	65 to 74 years	Unknown	2023	11	0	0	.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
Total male and female	15 to 19 years	Total	2023	1,009	801	85	10.7	715	66	533	386	147	116	71	45	208
Total male and female	15 to 19 years	1 Lower education	2023	753	584	67	11.5	516	40	405	302	102	72	45	27	169
Total male and female	15 to 19 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	250	212	18	8.2	195	26	126	82	44	44	26	18	38
Total male and female	15 to 19 years	3 Higher education	2023	6	5	0	.	4	1	2	1	1	1	1	0	1
Total male and female	15 to 19 years	Unknown	2023	0	0	0	.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total male and female	20 to 24 years	Total	2023	1,160	1,007	64	6.3	944	338	335	193	142	271	124	147	153
Total male and female	20 to 24 years	1 Lower education	2023	155	125	11	8.5	114	43	32	17	15	38	19	20	30
Total male and female	20 to 24 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	715	623	36	5.8	587	179	238	138	100	170	81	89	92
Total male and female	20 to 24 years	3 Higher education	2023	288	258	17	6.5	241	114	65	37	28	62	25	38	30
Total male and female	20 to 24 years	Unknown	2023	2	1	0	.	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Total male and female	25 to 29 years	Total	2023	1,148	1,033	41	4.0	992	644	75	35	40	273	93	180	114
Total male and female	25 to 29 years	1 Lower education	2023	106	76	5	7.0	71	43	8	4	4	19	7	12	30
Total male and female	25 to 29 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	412	366	14	3.7	353	197	35	15	20	120	48	72	45
Total male and female	25 to 29 years	3 Higher education	2023	626	589	22	3.8	567	403	32	16	16	132	37	95	38
Total male and female	25 to 29 years	Unknown	2023	3	2	0	.	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	1
Total male and female	30 to 34 years	Total	2023	1,178	1,069	30	2.8	1,039	655	50	18	32	334	128	206	109
Total male and female	30 to 34 years	1 Lower education	2023	143	108	6	5.9	101	72	7	2	5	22	12	10	35
Total male and female	30 to 34 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	391	350	10	2.8	340	200	23	7	15	118	50	68	41
Total male and female	30 to 34 years	3 Higher education	2023	635	604	14	2.3	590	378	20	9	11	193	66	127	31
Total male and female	30 to 34 years	Unknown	2023	9	7	0	.	7	5	1	0	0	2	0	1	1
Total male and female	35 to 39 years	Total	2023	1,109	996	25	2.5	972	565	58	18	39	349	143	205	112
Total male and female	35 to 39 years	1 Lower education	2023	158	116	5	3.9	111	72	10	3	7	29	15	14	42
Total male and female	35 to 39 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	377	340	7	2.0	333	185	27	8	18	121	57	64	37
Total male and female	35 to 39 years	3 Higher education	2023	565	535	13	2.4	522	304	20	7	14	197	71	126	30
Total male and female	35 to 39 years	Unknown	2023	8	6	0	.	6	4	1	0	0	1	0	1	2
Total male and female	40 to 44 years	Total	2023	1,055	946	21	2.3	924	547	55	19	35	323	132	191	109
Total male and female	40 to 44 years	1 Lower education	2023	177	137	4	2.6	133	87	12	4	7	34	14	20	41
Total male and female	40 to 44 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	355	321	7	2.2	313	179	20	7	13	115	57	58	35
Total male and female	40 to 44 years	3 Higher education	2023	516	485	10	2.2	474	279	22	8	14	173	61	112	31
Total male and female	40 to 44 years	Unknown	2023	6	4	0	.	3	2	1	0	1	1	0	1	3
Total male and female	45 to 49 years	Total	2023	1,044	929	18	1.9	911	548	55	19	36	307	126	181	115
Total male and female	45 to 49 years	1 Lower education	2023	181	136	4	2.9	132	82	13	5	8	37	16	20	45
Total male and female	45 to 49 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	382	342	7	1.9	336	188	25	8	17	123	58	64	39
Total male and female	45 to 49 years	3 Higher education	2023	475	446	8	1.7	439	275	17	5	11	147	51	97	28
Total male and female	45 to 49 years	Unknown	2023	7	4	0	.	4	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	3
Total male and female	50 to 54 years	Total	2023	1,251	1,083	18	1.6	1,065	636	74	26	48	356	143	212	168
Total male and female	50 to 54 years	1 Lower education	2023	276	205	3	1.6	201	117	23	8	15	62	30	32	71
Total male and female	50 to 54 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	487	430	6	1.3	424	236	32	10	22	157	70	86	57
Total male and female	50 to 54 years	3 Higher education	2023	478	443	9	1.9	435	281	18	8	10	136	42	94	34
Total male and female	50 to 54 years	Unknown	2023	11	5	0	.	5	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	6
Total male and female	55 to 59 years	Total	2023	1,254	1,049	20	1.9	1,029	587	81	31	50	360	162	199	204
Total male and female	55 to 59 years	1 Lower education	2023	337	249	6	2.4	243	132	28	11	17	82	41	41	88
Total male and female	55 to 59 years	2 Intermediate education	2023	505	436	8	1.8	428	225	35	11	24	168	82	87	69
Total male and female	55 to 59 years	3 Higher education	2023	403	359	6	1.7	353	226	18	8	10	109	39	71	44
Total male and female	55 to 59 years	Unknown	2023	9	5	0	.	5	5	0	0	0	1	0	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 February 14, 2024:
The figures for 4th quarter and years 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 May 15, 2024.

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.

Working hours

The number of hours someone works in a normal or average working week.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

Part-time

The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is less than 35 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

Less than 20 working hours a week

The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is less than 20 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

Less than 20 working hours a week: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is less than 20 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

Less than 12 working hours a week: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is less than 20 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

12 to 19 working hours a week: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is 12 to 19 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

20 to 34 working hours a week

The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is 20 to 34 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

20 to 34 working hours a week: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is 20 to 34 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

20 to 27 working hours a week: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is 20 to 27 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

28 to 34 working hours a week: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is 28 to 34 hours.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

Full-time: The number of hours that a person works in a normal or average working week is 35 hours or more.

In the average working hours overtime and unpaid hours are not taken into account.

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.