Employed labour force; economic activity

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Personal characteristics SIC 2008 Employed labour force (x 1 000)
Empl. status: flexible employee A-U All economic activities 2,679
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 173
B-F Manufacturing and energy 232
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 988
G-N Commercial services 1,392
M-N Business services 264
O-Q Government and care 748
O-U Noncommercial services 866
R-U Culture, recreation, other services 119
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 41
B Mining and quarrying 5
10-12 Manufacture of food and beverages 36
C Manufacturing 147
13-15 Man. of textile-, leatherproducts 2
16-18 Man. wood en paperprod., printing 8
19 Manufacture of coke and petroleum 1
20 Manufacture of chemicals 4
21 Manufacture of pharmaceuticals 5
22-23 Man. plastics and constructionprod 9
24-25 Man. of basic metals and -products 16
26 Manufacture of electronic products 7
27 Manufacture of electric equipment 3
28 Manufacture of machinery n.e.c. 20
29-30 Transport equipment 10
31-33 Other manufacturing and repair 25
D Energy supply 11
35 Energy supply 11
E Water supply and waste management 10
F Construction 59
G Wholesale and retail trade 541
H Transportation and storage 137
I Accommodation and food serving 310
J Information and communication 78
58-60 Publishing, movie, radio and TV 20
61 Telecommunications 6
62-63 IT- and information services 51
K Financial institutions 47
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 16
M Other specialised business services 128
69-71 Management, technical consultancy 86
72 Research and development 16
73-75 Advertising, design and other 27
N Renting and other business support 135
O Public administration and services 142
P Education 183
Q Health and social work activities 422
86 Human health activities 164
87-88 Care and social work 258
R Culture, sports and recreation 78
S Other service activities 37
T Activities of households 4
U Extraterritorial organisations 0
Unknown 147
Empl. status: flex, contract unknown A-U All economic activities 111
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 5
B-F Manufacturing and energy 6
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 63
G-N Commercial services 73
M-N Business services 9
O-Q Government and care 15
O-U Noncommercial services 20
R-U Culture, recreation, other services 6
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1
B Mining and quarrying 1
10-12 Manufacture of food and beverages 2
C Manufacturing 4
13-15 Man. of textile-, leatherproducts 0
16-18 Man. wood en paperprod., printing 0
19 Manufacture of coke and petroleum 0
20 Manufacture of chemicals 0
21 Manufacture of pharmaceuticals 0
22-23 Man. plastics and constructionprod 0
24-25 Man. of basic metals and -products 0
26 Manufacture of electronic products 0
27 Manufacture of electric equipment 0
28 Manufacture of machinery n.e.c. 0
29-30 Transport equipment 0
31-33 Other manufacturing and repair 2
D Energy supply 0
35 Energy supply 0
E Water supply and waste management 0
F Construction 1
G Wholesale and retail trade 33
H Transportation and storage 3
I Accommodation and food serving 26
J Information and communication 2
58-60 Publishing, movie, radio and TV 1
61 Telecommunications 0
62-63 IT- and information services 1
K Financial institutions 0
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 0
M Other specialised business services 4
69-71 Management, technical consultancy 1
72 Research and development 0
73-75 Advertising, design and other 3
N Renting and other business support 5
O Public administration and services 1
P Education 4
Q Health and social work activities 10
86 Human health activities 2
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation

This table contains quarterly and yearly figures on the economic activities where people work. The population of 15 to 74 years of age (excluding the institutionalized population) in paid employment is classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2008). A division by sex, age, level of education, professional status and working hours is available.

Data available from: 2013

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

Changes as of November 13, 2025:
The figures for the 3rd quarter 2025 have been added.

Changes as of November 15, 2022:
In the previous version, the self-employed variable was not published in the personal characteristics dimension for employment status. This has been added in this version.

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 in February 2026.

Description topics

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 75 years old. Paid work is regardless of the hours worked.