34 percent more Belgian enterprises in the Netherlands

© Hollandse Hoogte / Dolph Cantrijn
In a span of five years, the number of Belgian-owned multinationals in the Netherlands has grown from 1,138 in 2015 to 1,528 in 2020. Over the same period, the contribution of Belgian-owned firms to the Dutch economy has almost doubled, to approximately 4.6 billion euros. Incidentally, this is less than the contribution of firms with headquarters in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures.

In 2020, the Netherlands had nearly 15 percent more foreign-owned multinationals compared to 2015; the number of multinational enterprises with a Belgian majority stake was up by 34 percent. This was the largest increase in absolute terms among the top 10 countries of origin. Altogether 390 more firms with a Belgian majority stake were added after 2015. The value added generated by Belgian-owned firms increased from 2.5 billion euros in 2015 to 4.6 billion euros in 2020. At the same time, their staff numbers rose from 31 thousand to 50 thousand. Nevertheless, in terms of staffing, Belgian multinationals still lagged far behind their British counterparts, which offered employment to over 70 thousand more people in the Netherlands.

Foreign-owned multinationals in the Netherlands: top 10 origin countries
Land2020*2015
United States27992728
Germany21922055
United Kingdom15401316
Belgium15281138
France860806
Japan587535
Switzerland518440
China488406
Sweden437351
Denmark308226
*provisional figures

1 in 3 Belgian-owned firms active in Dutch trade

In 2020, wholesale and retail trade retained its position as the sector with the largest number of foreign-owned enterprises. Of the 1,528 Belgian-owned multinationals here, 508 operated in the wholesale and retail sector, contributing a value added of 907 million euros. They mainly included producers of non-food, industrial machinery and foodstuffs. Other Belgian-owned multinationals were predominantly active in specialised business services, manufacturing and information and communication.

Information and communication along with manufacturing had the largest value added

In the period 2015-2020, the number of Belgian-owned firms in the information and communication sector rose by 67 percent. The growth was primarily found in service sector activities in the area of information technology, such as software development. The Belgian-owned firms in information and communication combined generated a value added of 1.2 billion euros. In 2020, the highest value added was posted by Belgian manufacturing multinationals.

Belgian-owned enterprises by sector, 2020*
BedrijfstakNumber of enterprisesValue added (million euros)
Trade508907
Specialised business services245216
Manufacturing1971272
Information & communication1881212
Other business services100321
Transport & storage93257
Other194360
*provisional figures

Belgian-owned multinationals more active in border regions

Aside from locations in the (COROP) regions with the largest cities, e.g. Greater Amsterdam, Greater Rijnmond, Utrecht and South East Noord-Brabant, many Belgian firms choose border regions, including West Noord-Brabant (350 locations), South Limburg (215), Mid Noord-Brabant (125) and Zeelandic Flanders (115). These firms largely operate in wholesale and commission trade, retail trade, and service activities in the area of information technology. Enterprises controlled from more distant countries (e.g. the US, the UK and China) have their subsidiaries mainly in the large cities around the Randstad conurbation.

Locations of Belgian-owned multinationals, 2020*
COROPBelgian business locations
Achterhoek30
Agglomeratie 's-Gravenhage105
Agglomeratie Haarlem35
Agglomeratie Leiden en Bollenstreek45
Alkmaar en omgeving35
Arnhem/Nijmegen95
Delft en Westland30
Delfzijl en omgevingless than 5
Flevoland55
Groot-Amsterdam330
Groot-Rijnmond290
Het Gooi en Vechtstreek35
IJmond30
Kop van Noord-Holland45
Midden-Limburg70
Midden-Noord-Brabant125
Noord-Drenthe15
Noord-Friesland20
Noord-Limburg65
Noord-Overijssel50
Noordoost-Noord-Brabant125
Oost-Groningen10
Oost-Zuid-Holland35
Overig Groningen50
Overig Zeeland75
Twente65
Utrecht270
Veluwe95
West-Noord-Brabant350
Zaanstreek20
Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen115
Zuid-Limburg215
Zuidoost-Drenthe15
Zuidoost-Friesland15
Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant215
Zuidoost-Zuid-Holland80
Zuidwest-Drenthe15
Zuidwest-Friesland5
Zuidwest-Gelderland40
Zuidwest-Overijssel20
*provisional figures