Services exports are more profitable and create more jobs

In 2025, 2.6 million jobs in the Netherlands (FTE) were attributable to exports of goods and services. That was an increase of 760 thousand compared with 2010. Just over three-quarters of that increase was due to services exports. Services exports also account for an ever-larger share of the value added generated by exports. This is according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

In 2025, 31 percent of total employment in the Netherlands was attributable to exports of goods and services, compared with 26 percent in 2010. Exports of services now account for half of all export-related employment. By contrast, the share of employment attributable to goods exports has changed little over the past fifteen years.

Export earnings as a share of GDP have been stable since 2015

The share of total export earnings in total gross domestic product (GDP) has also remained fairly stable since 2015, in the range of 34 to 35 percent of GDP (34.1 percent in 2025). In the five years prior to that, by contrast, it increased signifcantly as global trade surged following the credit crisis.

However, the underlying composition of those export earnings is changing: the share of GDP attributable to earnings from goods exports has shrunk, while the share attributable to services exports has grown.

Services generate the highest return per euro of exports

The Netherlands earns the most per euro from the export of services: 64 cents per euro in 2025 For exports of goods produced in the Netherlands (known as domestic exports), the value added per euro of export value is also relatively high at 53 cents per euro. However, in the case of the re-export of goods, it is other countries that earn the most. In this case, the Netherlands only adds a small amount of value added, amounting to 13 cents per euro for re-exports.

Since 2022, earnings per euro have increased across all types of exports, with the largest gain seen in domestic exports. Over the past fifteen years, however, earnings per euro of export value have remained largely stable for each of the three main types of export.

Indirect value of services sector is also key to industrial exports

Services also play an important indirect role in Dutch exports. Increasingly, the services sector supports or facilitates exports from other sectors. In 2024, more than a quarter of the value added by exports of business services was generated by facilitating exports from other sectors.

The manufacturing sector, trade sector and transport sector, in particular, consume business services in order to export. These include legal and management consultancy services, IT services, financial services and management services relating to the use of intellectual property.