Well-being ‘elsewhere’: Trade and aid
Trade and aid concerns the ways in which 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 in the Netherlands transfer to family and friends abroad from the Netherlands.
- The bulk of the Netherlands’ imports come from high-income and upper-middle-income countries.
- The Netherlands achieved the OECD target for development aid in 2023.
Trade and aid
in EU
in 2023
in EU
in 2023
| Theme | Indicator | Value | Trend | Position in EU | Position in EU ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade and aid | Imports of goods from low-income countries F) | € 60 per capita (prices 2020) in 2024 | |||
| Trade and aid | Imports of goods from lower-middle-income countries F) | € 1,338 per capita (prices 2020) in 2024 | |||
| Trade and aid | Imports of goods from upper-middle-income countries F) | € 4,891 per capita (prices 2020) in 2024 | |||
| Trade and aid | Imports of goods from high-income countries F) | € 16,595 per capita (prices 2020) in 2024 | |||
| Trade and aid | Official development assistance | 0.7% of gross national income in 2023 | 6th out of 27 in 2023 | High ranking | |
| Trade and aid | Remittances | 1.5% of GDP in 2023 | 7th out of 27 in 2023 | High ranking |
Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being
By importing goods, the Netherlands has an influence on jobs and incomes in other countries. In this theme, Trade and aid, that influence is interpreted positively: more imports means more jobs and higher incomes. However, we do not know what kind of jobs these are and what the social and ecological impacts of the economic activities are. Some of those impacts are measured in the theme Environment and resources.
In order to give an impression of where the impacts are felt, the countries the Netherlands trades with are divided into four groups: low-income countries, lower-middle-income countries, upper-middle-income countries and high-income countries. This classification is derived from the World Bank and is based on a country’s gross national income per capita. Import values have been corrected for price fluctuations; all amounts are expressed in 2020 prices.
Imports of goods from the four groups of countries are reasonably stable. Only imports from low-income countries increased in the most recent year (by 3.6 percent). Over 70 percent of the volume of goods imports comes 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.
Similarly, development aid and income transfers contribute to the well-being of people elsewhere in the world. In 1970, UN member countries agreed to spend 0.7 percent of their gross national income (GNI) on development assistance (the OECD standard). In 2023, development aid stood at 0.7 percent of GNI. This put the Netherlands 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). The actual impacts on well-being ‘elsewhere’ depend on how the money is spent by the recipients. The assumption is that development aid and income transfers contribute positively to ensuring the livelihoods of people in the receiving countries.