Income distribution of households; National Accounts
| Characteristics of households | Periods | Total amount Resources Compensation of employees Wages and salaries (million euros) | Average amount Gross operating surplus (1,000 euro) | Average amount Gross mixed income (1,000 euro) | Average amount Gross primary income (1,000 euro) | Average amount Gross disposable income (1,000 euro) | Average amount Gross adjusted disposable income (1,000 euro) | Average amount Gross saving (1,000 euro) | Average amount Adjustm. change in pension entitlements (1,000 euro) | Average amount Resources Compensation of employees Wages and salaries (1,000 euro) | Standardised amount Resources Compensation of employees Wages and salaries (1,000 euro) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source of income: old age benefits | 2023* | 14,127 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 17.9 | 38.4 | 52.8 | -14.3 | -10.9 | 5.1 | 4.1 |
| Source: CBS. | |||||||||||
Table explanation
This table describes the income and saving distributions of the sector households in the national accounts across different household groups. Whereas macro-economic aggregates and averages convey merely the general situation, these distributional statistics provide insight into how economic resources and developments are distributed among different segments of the population. The relevance lies in the fact that the economic aggregates or growth of the Household sector may by reflected differently and unevenly when decomposed by different household groups. The Households sector is broken down into groups identified by main source of income, living situation, household composition, age class of the head of the household, income deciles, and net worth deciles.
These statistics are produced through combining microdata on households (among others administrative data and surveys) with the National Accounts aggregates. By adhering to the National Accounts totals, these distributional statistics align to the official macro-economic statistics. To accomplish this alignment, definitional, population-related, and methodological differences between micro- and macro-statistics are analyzed and resolved. Since National Accounts are internationally harmonized in terms of concepts and methodology, these aggregates are comparable across countries. Hence, due to the alignment to National Accounts totals, these distributional statistics have similar international comparability.
The methodology applied is developed in international context within expert groups of the OECD, ECB, and Eurostat, among others the work of the Expert Group on Disparities in a National Accounts framework (EG DNA). This methodology is outlined in the OECD Handbook on the Compilation of Household Distributional Results on Income, Consumption and Saving in Line with National Accounts Totals.
Data available from: 2021.
Status of the figures:
All data are provisional. The macro statistics are final, however the micro data used have varying statuses. The methodology is still under development at the international level.
Changes as of January 29th 2026:
None. This is a new table. Statistics Netherlands has carried out a revision of the national accounts. The Dutch national accounts are recently revised. New statistical sources, methods and concepts are implemented in the national accounts, in order to align the picture of the Dutch economy with all underlying source data and international guidelines for the compilation of the national accounts. This table contains revised data. For further information see section 3.
When will new figures be published?
New figures will be released at T+2 at the latest.
Description topics
- Total amount
- Resources
- Resources are transactions which add to the economic value of sectors.
- Compensation of employees
- The compensation of employees is the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to an employee in return for work done by the latter during an accounting period. The compensation of employees is equal to the sum of wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.
- Wages and salaries
- Wages and salaries are the remunerations an employee receives in return for work done during an accounting period. Wages and salaries include social contributions, income taxes and other payments payable by the employee, including those withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities etc. on behalf of the employee. The most important form of wages and salaries is wages in cash (including withheld income taxes and social contributions). Wages in cash are composed of regular gross wages, standard extra allowances (for instance for hazardous work), bonuses, overtime pay, tips and compensation for costs related to employment (for instance refunds of fares to and from work). Bonuses include holiday pay, tantième, gratifications, profit shares and a thirteenth or fourteenth month. Wages in kind occur if an employee benefits from his or her job besides being paid wages. Examples of payment in kind are private use of a company car, free housing, free food, lower interest rates on mortgages, free or cheap use of the company's products or services, and company supplied or subsidized child care.
- Average amount
- Amount per household.
- Gross operating surplus
- The surplus that remains after compensation of employees and taxes less subsidies on production and imports have been subtracted from the sum of value added at basic prices. For the self-employed (who are part of the sector households) the surplus is called mixed income, because it is partly a reward for their entrepreneurship compensation of labour.
The operating surplus of households equals housing services produced for own consumption by owner-occupiers.
In the system of national accounts gross means that consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) has not been subtracted. When it has, net is used.
- Gross mixed income
- Mixed income is for households mainly equal to the income earned by sole proprietors and other entrepreneurs personally liable for all gains and losses from their activities. The income earned has both an element of wage income as well as profit since the entrepreneur is both rewarded for the provided labour input as well as the undertaken risks. Included in mixed income are rentals received from letting real estate and income earned from black and illegal activities.
In the system of national accounts gross means that consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) has not been subtracted. When it has, net is used.
- Gross primary income
- Total primary income received by resident institutional units: compensation of employees, operating surplus / mixed income (gross), net property income and net taxes on production and imports less subsidies. Incomes flowing from one domestic sector to another have no effect on net national income. Gross national income (at market prices) equals GDP minus primary income paid by resident institutional units to non-resident institutional units plus primary income received by resident institutional units from the rest of the world. The division of payments by member states to the European Union is largely based upon differences in gross national income.
National income is not a production concept but an income concept, which is more significant if expressed in net terms, i.e. after deduction of consumption of fixed capital.
- Gross disposable income
- The sum of the gross disposable incomes of the institutional sectors. Gross national disposable income equals gross national income (at market prices) minus current transfers (current taxes on income, wealth et cetera, social contributions, social benefits and other current transfers) paid to non-resident units, plus current transfers received by resident units from the rest of the world. Because disposable national income is not a production concept but an income concept, it is usually expressed in net terms, i.e. after deduction of depreciation (consumption of fixed capital).
- Gross adjusted disposable income
- Adjusted disposable income is equal to disposable income of households including any income transfers in kind provided to households free of charge by general government or non-profit institutions serving households. This variable facilitates comparisons over time and across countries when there are differences or changes in economic and social conditions.
In the system of national accounts gross means that consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) has not been subtracted. When it has, net is used.
- Gross saving
- The portion of disposable income that has not been used for final consumption expenditure.
- Resources
- Resources are transactions which add to the economic value of sectors.
- Compensation of employees
- The compensation of employees is the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to an employee in return for work done by the latter during an accounting period. The compensation of employees is equal to the sum of wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.
- Wages and salaries
- Wages and salaries are the remunerations an employee receives in return for work done during an accounting period. Wages and salaries include social contributions, income taxes and other payments payable by the employee, including those withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities etc. on behalf of the employee. The most important form of wages and salaries is wages in cash (including withheld income taxes and social contributions). Wages in cash are composed of regular gross wages, standard extra allowances (for instance for hazardous work), bonuses, overtime pay, tips and compensation for costs related to employment (for instance refunds of fares to and from work). Bonuses include holiday pay, tantième, gratifications, profit shares and a thirteenth or fourteenth month. Wages in kind occur if an employee benefits from his or her job besides being paid wages. Examples of payment in kind are private use of a company car, free housing, free food, lower interest rates on mortgages, free or cheap use of the company's products or services, and company supplied or subsidized child care.
- Adjustm. change in pension entitlements
- Since households are treated in the financial accounts as owners of the pension entitlements an adjustment item is necessary to ensure that any excess of contributions to pension schemes over pension benefits does not affect household savings. This adjustment is equal to the difference between net pension contributions (including imputed contributions) and pension benefits.
- Standardised amount
- Amount per household converted to a single-person household.
- Resources
- Resources are transactions which add to the economic value of sectors.
- Compensation of employees
- The compensation of employees is the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to an employee in return for work done by the latter during an accounting period. The compensation of employees is equal to the sum of wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.
- Wages and salaries
- Wages and salaries are the remunerations an employee receives in return for work done during an accounting period. Wages and salaries include social contributions, income taxes and other payments payable by the employee, including those withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities etc. on behalf of the employee. The most important form of wages and salaries is wages in cash (including withheld income taxes and social contributions). Wages in cash are composed of regular gross wages, standard extra allowances (for instance for hazardous work), bonuses, overtime pay, tips and compensation for costs related to employment (for instance refunds of fares to and from work). Bonuses include holiday pay, tantième, gratifications, profit shares and a thirteenth or fourteenth month. Wages in kind occur if an employee benefits from his or her job besides being paid wages. Examples of payment in kind are private use of a company car, free housing, free food, lower interest rates on mortgages, free or cheap use of the company's products or services, and company supplied or subsidized child care.