Well-being ‘elsewhere’: summary

Well-being ‘elsewhere’ describes the consequences of choices that Dutch people make for the well-being ‘here and now’ and ‘later’ of people elsewhere in the world. The Netherlands has a large footprint in the world, which has positive and negative impacts on the well-being of current and future generations in other countries.

Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being

Most of the well-being ‘elsewhere’ indicators display no rising or falling trend. Imports of fossil fuels are falling and the quantity of land needed worldwide to produce products for Dutch consumers is also decreasing. The material footprint is relatively low, whereas the land footprint and greenhouse gas footprint are average within the EU. The lion’s share of imports still come from affluent countries. The relatively small proportion from low-income countries did increase in the most recent year. Development aid and income transfers to other countries are relatively high compared to other EU countries.

The picture painted for well-being ‘elsewhere’ is probably overly positive. Many aspects are not easy to measure. For example, it is difficult to determine the quality of the jobs created elsewhere by Dutch imports, since it is not yet possible to quantify poor working conditions, child labour and forced labour in the value chains of Dutch consumer goods.

Moreover, the figures on environment and raw materials are compared with countries which, like the Netherlands, are among those with the biggest footprints worldwide. The United Nations’ Spillover Index measures the positive and negative impacts that each country has on all other countries. The Spillover Index is not good enough to be used for statistical monitoring, but it does give an impression of the position of the 27 EU member states (Sachs, Lafortune & Fuller, 2024; see also Fanning et al., 2022). The Netherlands is in 162nd place of the 166 countries compared: The Netherlands has many more negative than positive impacts on other countries, especially via the social and environmental effects of trade. The other EU member states are also at the lower end of the ranking. Bulgaria is the member state with the best score and occupies the 110th position.

Trade and aid

Trade and aid concerns the ways the Netherlands is connected with the rest of the world. Well-being in other countries is influenced by trade and development cooperation and by the money that people transfer to family and friends abroad from the Netherlands.

Imports from low-income countries rose in the most recent year. However, over 70 percent of the volume of goods imports come from high-income countries and slightly over 20 percent from upper-middle-income countries. These are therefore the countries where the impacts on jobs and incomes are primarily felt. Only 0.3 percent of goods imports come from low-income countries.

In 2023, development aid stood at 0.7 percent of gross national income. This means the Netherlands has achieved the OECD target which puts the country towards the top of the EU ranking (6th out of 27 countries). The other countries to achieve the OECD standard were Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden. Income transfers from people living in the Netherlands (residents) to people living in other countries (non-residents) stood at 1.5 percent of GDP. This again put the Netherlands towards the top of the EU ranking in 2023 (7th out of 27 countries).

Environment and resources

Environment and resources concerns the import of raw materials and the consequences that the extraction of and trade in these raw materials have for the well-being of people elsewhere in the world. Raw materials, land and water in other countries are used for production and consumption in the Netherlands. This has consequences for working conditions, nature and environment, and the climate, especially in the world’s poorest countries.

Footprints measure the quantity of resources used and the associated impacts on nature, climate and other aspects of well-being worldwide caused by consumption by Dutch citizens and government. The land footprint displays a decreasing trend. In 2022, 0.7 hectares of land were required for the consumption needs of each inhabitant. This amounts to approximately three times the area of the Netherlands. The greenhouse gas footprint is stable. In the most recent year (from 2021 to 2022), the material footprint fell by 2.7 percent. The trend is stable.

Physical imports per inhabitant of biomass, fossil fuels, metals and non-metallic minerals are higher than in most of the EU27 countries. The seaports play a role in this. However, the trend in imports is falling. Imports of raw materials from the 45 Least Developed Countries are stable. Overall, less than one percent of imports of raw materials came from the LDCs.