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R&D expenditure in the Netherlands by funding source and sector of performance

data publication
Science in Figures
09 October 2023
Research & Development (R&D) takes place in different sectors: companies, higher education, and research institutions. Who finances R&D in each sector? In this data publication we show R&D expenditure in the Netherlands for the different sectors of performance (companies, higher education, research institutions) differentiated by funding source.

In short

  • Corporations are paying for the majority of their own R&D.
  • R&D funding for higher education derives mostly from the government.
  • Research institutions are mostly funded by the government. 

R&D funding sources

The financial sources of R&D consist of various organizations such as: organisations from abroad, private & non-profit organisations (PNP), higher education, companies and the Dutch government. 

Who pays what?

R&D is performed by three executive sectors:

  1. Companies
  2. Higher education 
  3. Research institutions

For each sector, we look at the sources of funding for their R&D activities and the trends that can be observed.
 

1. Companies

Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Notes: There is a break between 2010 and 2011, because as of 2011 the business enterprise sector includes enterprises up to 10 employees and the definition of R&D has been widened a bit. The 2020 and 2021 figures are preliminary. There is also a break between 2012 and 2013. In 2019 Statistics Netherlands brought the Dutch R&D-statistics into line with the international guidelines as written down in the Frascati manual (2015). This revision has been passed through as of 2013. With this revision some research institutes (with less than 50% government funding) have been moved from the government sector to that of business enterprises. More information on the revision can be found in the section ‘about the data’ at the bottom of the factsheet funding and performance of R&D in the Netherlands.  

Analysis
The absolute R&D expenditure of business enterprises is steadily increasing to 13.0 billion euros in 2021. Business enterprises are not very dependent on other parties for funding. Between 80% and 83% of companies' R&D funding ends up with the companies themselves, with a few peaks down.

Governmental funding of R&D in the corporate sector has declined from 2011 to 2.21% in 2012. The increase in 2017 is due to a revision of the Statistics Netherlands R&D statistics.
 

2. Higher education

Source: Statistics Netherlands.
Notes: The higher education sector consist of the universities, the university medical centres and the universities of applied sciences. The figures of the higher education have been left out, because of the low figures for two years only. The 2020 and 2021 figures are preliminary. In 2019 Statistics Netherlands brought the Dutch R&D-statistics into line with the international guidelines as written down in the Frascati manual (2015). This revision has been passed through as of 2013. As a consequence, there is a break between 2012 and 2013. More information on the revision can be found in the section ‘about the data’ at the bottom of the factsheet funding and performance of R&D in the Netherlands.  

Analysis
Governmental sources are the main funding sources for R&D activities executed by higher education institutions. On average, governmental sources are funding 77% of the total R&D expenditures of higher educational institutions since 2011. Furthermore, funding sources from abroad and business enterprises has slightly increased.
 

3. Research institutions

Source: Statistics Netherlands.
Notes: The 2020 and 2021 figures are preliminary. In 2019 Statistics Netherlands brought the Dutch R&D-statistics into line with the international guidelines as written down in the Frascati manual (2015). This revision has been passed through as of 2013. With this revision some research institutes (with less than 50% government funding) have been moved from the government sector to that of business enterprises. As a consequence, there is a break in the trend between 2012 and 2013. More information on the revision can be found in the section ‘about the data’ at the bottom of the factsheet funding and performance of R&D in the Netherlands.  

Analysis
The government is the most important financial source for research institutions. On average, governmental sources are funding 77% of the researches executed by such institutions since 2013. Due to a change in definition, data assessing the years before 2013 are not comparative with the current data. 
 

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