Wages rose faster than company profits in 2025
- The labour income share for the market sector increased by 0.2 percentage points in 2025.
- The largest rise was seen in the information and communication sector.
- Labour income share in the chemical industry has risen sharply over the past four years.
The labour income share for the market sector rose from 70.4 percent in 2024 to 70.6 percent in 2025. However, the longer-term trend in the labour income share in the Netherlands has been downwards since 1995. In 1995, it stood at 81.4 percent. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released provisional figures.
The labour income share for the market sector measures the share of a country’s total income earned that goes to employees and the self-employed in the form of remuneration. The remainder of total income earned forms corporate operating profits. The labour income share rose in 2025 because the income earned from labour increased more quickly than companies’ operating profits. Labour income share rose slightly in 2024, too.
The market sector consists of the whole economy with the exception of the sectors: public administration, education, health and social care, real estate activities, mining and quarrying, and financial services.
| Jaar | Labour income share, market sector (%) | Trend line (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 81.4 | 80.3 |
| 1996 | 81.2 | 80.0 |
| 1997 | 79.3 | 79.7 |
| 1998 | 77.9 | 79.4 |
| 1999 | 78.9 | 79.1 |
| 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 | 75.5 |
| 2012 | 78.2 | 75.2 |
| 2013 | 78.0 | 74.9 |
| 2014 | 77.7 | 74.6 |
| 2015 | 74.8 | 74.3 |
| 2016 | 74.5 | 74.0 |
| 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 | 72.1 |
| 2023 | 70.0 | 71.8 |
| 2024* | 70.4 | 71.5 |
| 2025* | 70.6 | 71.2 |
Labour income share rose in the information and communications sector
Labour income share rose in sectors including information and communication, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and culture, sport and leisure in 2025. In the water supply and waste management sector, and the accommodation and food services sector, labour income share was stable. Meanwhile, it fell in sectors including retail, energy supply, manufacturing, construction and other services in 2025.
Labour income share varies between different sectors. Some companies require more capital (such as machinery or vehicles) in their production process and employ fewer staff. As a result, they spend less on labour and their operating profits are higher. When these companies are concentrated in a particlar sector, it is known as a capital-intensive sector. Higher profits in more capital-intensive sectors mean that the labour income share is lower in those sectors. Conversely, sectors that are more labour-intensive have more workers, and therefore a higher labour income share.
| Bedrijfstak | 2025 (%) | 2024 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Information & communication | 82.3 | 77.2 |
| Agriculture, forestry & fishing | 80.2 | 77.5 |
| Culture, sport & recreation | 79.2 | 77.1 |
| Leasing & other business services | 71.9 | 70.5 |
| Specialist business services | 78.3 | 76.9 |
| Transportation & storage | 73.2 | 72.3 |
| Water & waste management | 69.1 | 69.1 |
| Accommodation & food services | 85.8 | 85.8 |
| Construction | 78.4 | 79.0 |
| Other services | 100.5 | 101.1 |
| Manufacturing | 59.3 | 60.4 |
| Energy supply | 39.8 | 41.2 |
| Trade | 62.1 | 63.8 |
| * provisional figures | ||
Labour income share has fallen the most in the travel sector in past thirty years
Over the past thirty years, the labour income share in the chemical sector has seen one of the sharpest rises, particularly in the last four years. Company operating profits fell in the chemical sector between 1995 and 2025, while wage costs rose. The sector that saw the sharpest fall over that period was travel agencies and tour operators, in which labour income share fell by 66 percentage points. Total wage costs rose by 1.8 billion euros during that period, but operating profits increased by 8.6 billion euros.
| Jaar | Chemical sector (%) | Travel agencies & tour operators (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 51.9 | 87.5 |
| 1996 | 58.4 | 86.9 |
| 1997 | 56.1 | 95.8 |
| 1998 | 55.7 | 92.6 |
| 1999 | 58.4 | 90.9 |
| 2000 | 57.7 | 96.9 |
| 2001 | 53.1 | 87.9 |
| 2002 | 52.0 | 92.5 |
| 2003 | 51.6 | 88.3 |
| 2004 | 47.3 | 88.2 |
| 2005 | 46.9 | 87.4 |
| 2006 | 39.3 | 85.9 |
| 2007 | 37.9 | 81.5 |
| 2008 | 41.6 | 86.8 |
| 2009 | 58.4 | 67.0 |
| 2010 | 52.7 | 56.9 |
| 2011 | 49.5 | 59.8 |
| 2012 | 53.0 | 38.6 |
| 2013 | 61.2 | 33.2 |
| 2014 | 64.7 | 28.9 |
| 2015 | 52.3 | 25.4 |
| 2016 | 48.5 | 23.7 |
| 2017 | 45.1 | 22.7 |
| 2018 | 43.8 | 22.5 |
| 2019 | 55.5 | 23.1 |
| 2020 | 69.7 | 63.9 |
| 2021 | 48.2 | 33.1 |
| 2022 | 79.1 | 20.5 |
| 2023 | 94.6 | 20.2 |
| 2024* | 76.8 | 20.7 |
| 2025* | 92.8 | 21.4 |
| * provisional figures | ||
Initial calculation
The labour income share for 2025 is published on the basis of the latest provisional annual figures. Following this initial calculation, more information on the Netherlands’ economy will continue to become available, which is used to refine the initial figures in the years that follow. The definitive figures are only available after the third calculation, which can be done after two years.
In the period 2018-2025, the difference between the initial calculation and the definitive calculation averaged 0.8 percentage points. The two extremes were 0.5 percentage points in 2018 and 1.5 percentage points in 2020.
Sources
- StatLine - Labour income share, economic activity