Resilience

Major shocks, such as the coronavirus pandemic or the outbreak of war in Ukraine, can affect all aspects of well-being. To what extent would the Netherlands be able to absorb a major shock in the short run? Resilience concerns whether people would still be able to maintain their livelihood (‘here and now’), and whether our nature, society, economy and essential systems would be strong enough (‘later’ and ‘critical systems’), and how dependent the Netherlands is on the rest of the world (‘elsewhere’).

• The average household would be able to maintain its livelihood in the event of a global shock.
• Dutch society has become less cohesive in recent years and therefore less shock-resilient, especially due to a decline in trust.
• The resilience of critical systems to shocks has declined.

The average household has sufficient reserves to support itself in the event of a shock. Household wealth and savings are trending upwards, as is net labour participation. Net labour participation and the proportion of people with good perceived health are relatively high compared to other EU countries. At the same time, fewer than half of the population felt they had a high level of control over their lives in 2025. Two of the four vulnerable groups measured continue to decline in size; previously, this was the case for three of the groups. While unemployment is low compared to the EU-27 and trending downwards, it has increased slightly every year since 2022. The share of people without a basic educational qualification is decreasing, but is high compared to the EU-27. Although the percentage of people with severe long-term disabilities due to health problems is low compared to other EU countries, it is no longer declining. The proportion of poor self-employed workers is also stable.

The health of the Netherlands’ natural environment seems to be improving. The amount of green-blue space per inhabitant is gradually decreasing, and nitrogen deposition in terrestrial nature declined from 74.6 percent in 1995 to 69.9 percent in 2023. The rapid growth of renewable energy means that the Netherlands needs relatively fewer fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.

Social cohesion in the Netherlands has deteriorated in recent years, resulting in a less resilient society. This can mainly be attributed to a decline in trust. In 2025, trust in other people and institutions was lower than in 2024. Social cohesion in residential neighbourhoods has also declined over recent years, and a relatively large share of people in the Netherlands identify as belonging to a group that suffers from discrimination.

The Dutch economy appears to be robust. Gross labour participation, the share of people with a higher education degree and the median solvency of non-financial companies are all increasing. The capital stock per hour worked is stable. Looking back further than the trend period (2018 to 2025), capital intensity is gradually falling. The Netherlands is one of the few countries where the intellectual capital stock per hour worked is falling rather than rising.

The shock-resilience of critical systems with an essential societal function has declined. Trust in institutions fell in 2025, but as recently as 2023 it was still high compared to 18 other EU countries. This decline can mainly be attributed to a sharp drop in trust in the Dutch House of Representatives. Time lost due to traffic jams and delays increased in 2024. The labour shortage in the healthcare sector, which is already high compared to other EU countries, is increasing. While the total vacancy rate is no longer rising, it is still significantly higher than in other EU countries. Banks in the Netherlands are less resilient to prolonged periods of low growth, high interest rates and high inflation levels than banks in other EU countries. In 2024, the Netherlands’ Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (CET1) was significantly higher than the minimum requirement, but low compared to the rest of the EU-27.

The government’s ability to operate effectively has declined. Government debt is trending downwards in the medium term, but increased by 0.6 percent of GDP to 44.4 percent between 2024 and 2025. The effectiveness of public administration and the rule of law are both declining. Nevertheless, the quality of Dutch public institutions is high compared to other countries (5th in the EU-27 for both indicators in 2024).

Systems that cannot be allowed to fail include the Netherlands’ power grid and IT infrastructure. In 2025, the Netherlands relied on energy imports for 72.9 percent of its energy needs. Dependence on energy imports has been around 70 percent in recent years.