Goods exports top 700 billion euros for the first time

After recovering from the coronavirus crisis and the first price increases of 2021, Dutch goods trade rose in value again over the course of 2022. This was related to the substantially higher prices of many goods including fuels, foods and materials. The volume of Dutch goods trade rose as well, although far less substantially. Adjusted for the price increases, the volume of imports and exports rose by about 2.3 percent in 2022 relative to 2021.

More expensive fuels in 2022

Almost 50 percent of the increase in export value was on account of mineral fuel exports. Sharply higher fuel prices play a major role in this. In 2022, a barrel of crude oil cost approximately 93 euros on average; 40 percent more than in the previous year. In addition, the export value of mobile telephone equipment, machinery and devices such as industrial equipment or machinery for the chip manufacturing industry, and chemical products was higher than in 2021.

Approximately 57 percent of the growth in export value was related to re-exports. The largest growth in re-exports was recorded in mineral fuels, mobile telephone equipment, chemical products and medicines. In domestic exports, growth was seen in mineral fuels, machinery, processed foods and chemical products, amongst other goods.

Nearly 40 percent lower exports to Russia

Germany is the Netherlands’ main export partner, and also in absolute terms, this trade had the strongest growth in 2022 (+53 billion euros). Exports to the other top 5 export countries (namely Belgium, France, the UK and the US) also grew in value. Russia dropped further down the rankings of export partners, from 18th to 29th place. Last year’s exports to Russia were down by 37 percent on 2021. Russia’s neighbouring countries received substantially more export goods in 2022. Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Kazakhstan took centre stage with over 100 percent more goods from the Netherlands.

No further increase in openness of the Dutch economy

Despite the strongly increased trade value, the openness of the Dutch economy has not increased further in recent years. When the volume of exports is measured against GDP, the Netherlands' openness and interconnectedness with foreign countries has shown an upward trend in recent decades. In this, domestic exports play an important and stable role. The volume of re-exports has increased (both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP) and is now larger than the volume of domestic exports. However, the Netherlands earns substantially more from domestic exports than from re-exports.