The illegal economy in the Netherlands

According to the System of National Accounts (SNA 1993) illegal activities should be registered in the national accounts, as the accounts should cover all economic activities, including those deliberately concealed from the authorities. Illegal production concerns activities which generate goods and services which themselves are forbidden by law, or activities that are illegal when performed by unauthorised persons. In this paper, illegal activities, as for example drugs related activities, in the Netherlands are described and an estimate of their contribution to the Dutch economy in 2001 is presented. The estimates in this report are not based on official statistics.