Labour income share rose slightly in 2024
The labour income share is an important macroeconomic indicator which shows who is benefiting from economic output. It represents the share of income earned from labour within the total income earned in the market sector of the Dutch economy. The market sector consists of the whole economy except for public administration, education, health & social care, real estate activities, mining & quarrying and financial services.
Total income earned consists of income from labour plus the operating profits of companies. Labour income equals the total labour force remuneration plus the mixed income earned by self-employed people. The labour income share rose in 2024 because the income earned from labour increased more quickly than company operating profits. In 2023, there was no change in the labour income share.
| Jaar | Market sector (%) | Trend (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 81.4 | 80.4 |
| 1996 | 81.2 | 80.1 |
| 1997 | 79.3 | 79.8 |
| 1998 | 77.9 | 79.5 |
| 1999 | 78.9 | 79.2 |
| 2000 | 79.7 | 78.8 |
| 2001 | 78.1 | 78.5 |
| 2002 | 78.1 | 78.2 |
| 2003 | 79.0 | 77.9 |
| 2004 | 77.3 | 77.6 |
| 2005 | 75.2 | 77.3 |
| 2006 | 73.7 | 77.0 |
| 2007 | 72.5 | 76.7 |
| 2008 | 74.2 | 76.4 |
| 2009 | 77.7 | 76.1 |
| 2010 | 76.9 | 75.8 |
| 2011 | 77.1 | 75.4 |
| 2012 | 78.2 | 75.1 |
| 2013 | 78.0 | 74.8 |
| 2014 | 77.7 | 74.5 |
| 2015 | 74.8 | 74.2 |
| 2016 | 74.5 | 73.9 |
| 2017 | 73.7 | 73.6 |
| 2018 | 74.3 | 73.3 |
| 2019 | 73.5 | 73.0 |
| 2020 | 74.4 | 72.7 |
| 2021 | 70.5 | 72.4 |
| 2022 | 69.8 | 72.0 |
| 2023* | 69.8 | 71.7 |
| 2024* | 69.9 | 71.4 |
| * provisional figures | ||
Different picture in different sectors
In 2024, labour income share decreased in the sectors water supply & waste management, construction, accommodation and food services, specialised business services, culture, sports & recreation, trade, transportation & storage, and information & communication. Meanwhile, it increased in rental and other business services, agriculture, forestry and fishing, manufacturing and energy companies.
The water supply and waste management sector has seen the sharpest fall in the labour income share in recent years. In that sector, operating profits increased by 4.4 billion euros last year, while labour income increased by 0.2 billion euros, resulting in a fall in the labour income share. Energy companies saw the largest increase in labour income share in the past year. Profits fell in the sector due to lower prices, while income from labour rose.
| Bedrijfstak | 2024* (%) | 2023* (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Energy companies | 51.7 | 37.2 |
| Manufacturing | 62.6 | 60.6 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 77.1 | 76.5 |
| Rental and other business services | 71.2 | 71.0 |
| Information and communication | 78.6 | 79.1 |
| Transportation and storage | 70.4 | 71.2 |
| Trade | 61.4 | 62.4 |
| Culture, sport and recreation | 76.0 | 77.1 |
| Food and accommodation services | 82.9 | 84.7 |
| Specialised business services | 74.9 | 76.7 |
| Construction | 75.8 | 77.7 |
| Water supply and waste management | 65.6 | 71.6 |
| *provisional figures | ||
Additional information available
CBS also publishes the labour income share figures for individual economic sectors. A new approach for this research has resulted in the availability of additional information. This enables CBS to provide more detail with respect to the labour income share, including at the sector level. As a result, differences between the sectors within an industrial sector can be seen, such as trade. Within trade, wholesale trade has a lower labour income share than the retail trade and the car trade. The labour income share for car trade and repair increased slightly in 2024, while the labour income shares for retail trade and wholesale trade decreased.
| Jaar | Trade (total) (%) | Car and repair trade (%) | Wholesale trade (%) | Retail trade (excl. cars) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 77.6 | 82.4 | 72.2 | 84.7 |
| 1996 | 77.0 | 83.3 | 70.7 | 85.3 |
| 1997 | 72.5 | 79.6 | 64.5 | 84.4 |
| 1998 | 70.1 | 77.5 | 62.4 | 81.1 |
| 1999 | 71.0 | 78.8 | 63.1 | 82.2 |
| 2000 | 69.8 | 78.7 | 60.7 | 83.2 |
| 2001 | 68.5 | 72.5 | 60.5 | 81.2 |
| 2002 | 67.4 | 73.4 | 59.3 | 79.6 |
| 2003 | 70.8 | 79.0 | 63.2 | 81.3 |
| 2004 | 68.9 | 79.3 | 59.6 | 83.3 |
| 2005 | 67.6 | 79.1 | 58.1 | 82.7 |
| 2006 | 67.3 | 79.3 | 58.6 | 80.3 |
| 2007 | 66.4 | 80.3 | 57.2 | 80.4 |
| 2008 | 67.1 | 83.2 | 57.6 | 82.1 |
| 2009 | 70.2 | 89.4 | 61.4 | 81.7 |
| 2010 | 69.4 | 84.8 | 60.3 | 84.1 |
| 2011 | 69.3 | 85.2 | 60.2 | 83.8 |
| 2012 | 69.3 | 88.4 | 60.3 | 83.0 |
| 2013 | 65.7 | 85.6 | 56.3 | 81.2 |
| 2014 | 65.6 | 85.1 | 55.6 | 83.2 |
| 2015 | 64.2 | 80.9 | 54.7 | 81.5 |
| 2016 | 63.9 | 80.6 | 54.9 | 79.6 |
| 2017 | 63.1 | 77.8 | 54.7 | 77.4 |
| 2018 | 63.2 | 77.3 | 54.6 | 78.1 |
| 2019 | 61.7 | 74.7 | 53.2 | 77.0 |
| 2020 | 61.9 | 74.6 | 54.2 | 74.3 |
| 2021 | 58.2 | 72.8 | 50.8 | 71.0 |
| 2022 | 60.0 | 72.2 | 51.9 | 75.4 |
| 2023* | 62.4 | 71.8 | 56.0 | 73.2 |
| 2024* | 61.4 | 72.0 | 55.2 | 70.9 |
| * provisional figures | ||||
Sources
- StatLine - Labour income share, economic activity