Research and development; personnel, expenditure, company size, branch

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Company size Sector/branches (SIC2008) R&D personnel Employed persons (number) R&D personnel Years of work (number) Expenditure R&D on in-house activities (mln euro) Enterprises with in-house R&D activities (number)
Total A-U All economic activities 197,370 140,132 16,711 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 4,813 3,228 369 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 70,748 55,872 8,497 .
B Mining and quarrying 453 200 32 .
C Manufacturing 68,879 54,860 8,380 .
D Energy supply 664 427 48 .
E Water supply and waste management 752 385 37 .
F Construction 2,307 1,310 143 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 18,416 12,233 1,134 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 16,237 10,556 966 .
H Transportation and storage 2,104 1,648 167 .
I Accommodation and food serving 75 29 2 .
J Information and communication 39,712 28,487 2,265 .
K Financial institutions 8,160 4,842 542 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 89 43 3 .
M-N Business services 43,057 28,747 3,188 .
M Other specialised business services 38,674 26,740 3,018 .
N Renting and other business support 4,383 2,006 170 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
0 to 49 employed persons A-U All economic activities 57,175 31,385 2,302 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1,373 532 32 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 12,305 6,384 480 .
B Mining and quarrying . . . .
C Manufacturing 11,863 6,140 463 .
D Energy supply 143 84 6 .
E Water supply and waste management . . . .
F Construction 641 339 34 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 6,073 3,625 246 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 5,710 3,439 229 .
H Transportation and storage . . . .
I Accommodation and food serving . . . .
J Information and communication 14,346 8,901 510 .
K Financial institutions 3,412 1,132 88 .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 37 20 2 .
M-N Business services 17,931 9,941 862 .
M Other specialised business services 16,358 9,171 808 .
N Renting and other business support 1,573 770 53 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
50 to 249 employed persons A-U All economic activities 43,952 31,042 3,156 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 914 541 66 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 15,419 10,495 1,099 .
B Mining and quarrying 98 61 9 .
C Manufacturing 14,906 10,117 1,061 .
D Energy supply 210 190 15 .
E Water supply and waste management 206 127 15 .
F Construction 530 253 26 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 5,396 4,310 414 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 5,095 4,110 400 .
H Transportation and storage . . . .
I Accommodation and food serving . . . .
J Information and communication 9,321 6,945 543 .
K Financial institutions . . . .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate . . . .
M-N Business services 10,039 7,102 895 .
M Other specialised business services 9,161 6,654 860 .
N Renting and other business support 878 447 35 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
250 and more employed persons A-U All economic activities 96,243 77,705 11,253 .
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2,526 2,154 271 .
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 43,024 38,993 6,918 .
B Mining and quarrying . . . .
C Manufacturing 42,110 38,603 6,856 .
D Energy supply 311 153 28 .
E Water supply and waste management . . . .
F Construction 1,136 718 84 .
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 6,947 4,298 474 .
G Wholesale and retail trade 5,431 3,006 337 .
H Transportation and storage 1,482 1,281 136 .
I Accommodation and food serving 33 11 1 .
J Information and communication 16,046 12,641 1,213 .
K Financial institutions . . . .
L Renting, buying, selling real estate . . . .
M-N Business services 15,087 11,704 1,432 .
M Other specialised business services 13,155 10,915 1,349 .
N Renting and other business support 1,933 789 83 .
O-Q Government and care . . . .
O Public administration and services . . . .
P Education . . . .
Q Health and social work activities . . . .
R-U Culture, recreation, other services . . . .
R Culture, sports and recreation . . . .
S Other service activities . . . .
T Activities of households . . . .
U Extraterritorial organisations . . . .
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table contains figures regarding enterprises that conduct in-house Research and Development (R&D) activities with own or external personnel. Additionally figures are available regarding the personnel and the expenditure related to these R&D activities.

The figures are broken down by company size and branch of industry according to the Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (SIC 2008).

The R&D activities are conducted in-house by own or external personnel in the Netherlands. Outsourced R&D is not included in this table. Furthermore, this table only concerns the "businesses" sector. The sectors "institutions" and "higher education" are not included in this table.

Data available from: 2013

Status of the figures:
The data regarding 2013-2021 are definitive and the data regarding 2022-2023 are revised provisional.

Changes as of 15 August 2025:
The revised provisional figures about 2023 have been published.

As of statistical year 2022, a new sample design and weighting method are used for this statistic. This makes the published data more accurate, but this change does mean that for the moment the figures on the number of R&D firms cannot be published yet.

When will new figures be published?
Mid 2026 the figures about 2024 will be published.

Description topics

R&D personnel
The personnel that conducts the in-house R&D activities, expressed in numbers of employed persons and years of work.
Employed persons
Someone working for a company located in the Netherlands, or for an institution or private household in the Netherlands.

In order to be included in the R&D personnel an employed person needs to spend at least 0,1 FTE annually on R&D related activities.

Employed persons are all persons having paid jobs, even for only one or some hours a week, and even if they:
- work legally as such, but without registration for income tax and social security (“undeclared work”);
- are temporarily not at work, but have continued receipt of wages or salary (for instance in case of illness or hold-ups due to frost);
- are on a temporary unpaid-leave.
Employed persons can be divided into employees and the self-employed persons. They can live in the Netherlands, but also abroad.

Years of work
A measure for the volume of work, calculated by converting all jobs (full-time and part-time) into full-time jobs, also known as full-time equivalents (FTE).

As such, when combined, the volume of work of two half jobs (0.5 FTE each) totals one year of work.
Expenditure R&D on in-house activities
Enterprises with in-house R&D activities