R&D expenditure, funded by the government and companies, as a % of GDP

To get a good overview of Dutch R&D expenditure, we can compare the expenditure with other countries. In this data publication, we compare R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP. We look at total expenditure, and at R&D expenditure funded by the government and the business enterprise sector respectively.

23 September 2026

In short

Total Dutch R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is above the EU27 average, but below the OECD average.
The R&D expenditure funded by the Dutch government is just above the OECD and EU-27 average.
The R&D expenditure funded by companies is just above the EU-27 average but below the OECD average.

R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP

Export Table Data

	Other	Government	Business enterprises
KOR	0,05	1,13	3,76
SWE	0,53	0,8	2,31
JAP	0,21	0,55	2,68
US	0,42	0,65	2,35
BEL	0,7	0,59	1,95
AUT	0,59	0,94	1,7
GER	0,24	0,93	1,96
SWI	0,32	0,81	1,98
FIN	0,53	0,8	1,76
DEN	0,53	0,84	1,7
UK	0,61	0,55	1,6
OECD	0,34	0,63	1,74
CHI	0,09	0,44	2,04
NLD	0,28	0,67	1,35
FRA	0,28	0,72	1,18
EU27	0,29	0,65	1,21
SGP	0,14	0,65	1,23
CAN	0,48	0,5	0,96
NOR	0,21	0,79	0,84
IRE	0,67	0,18	0,69
ESP	0,21	0,57	0,72
ITA	0,16	0,51	0,7

Data: Download as CSV file

Source: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)/Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI), March 2026.

Notes: a) The MSTI database shows a set of indicators which represent the structure and efforts of the OECD member countries and seven non-OECD economies (Argentina, China, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Chinese Taipei) in the field of science and technology since 1981. The indicators regard expenditure and personnel for R&D, patents, the technological balance of payments and the international trade of R&D intensive industries.

Explanatory note
R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is above the EU-27 average but below the OECD average. In 2023, the Netherlands spent 2.3% of its GDP on R&D. This figure falls between the OECD average (2.7%) and the EU-27 average (2.15%).

R&D expenditures funded by the government

Export Table Data

	government
KOR	1,13
AUT	0,94
GER	0,93
DEN	0,84
SWI	0,81
SWE	0,8
FIN	0,8
NOR	0,79
FRA	0,72
NLD	0,67
US	0,65
EU27	0,65
SGP	0,65
OECD	0,63
BEL	0,59
ESP	0,57
JAP	0,55
UK	0,55
ITA	0,51
CAN	0,5
CHI	0,44
IRE	0,18

Data: Download as CSV file

Source: OECD/MSTI, March 2026

Notes: Performer based data.

Explanatory note
In 2023, government funding for R&D in the Netherlands stands at 0.67% of GDP. This is slightly above the EU-27 average (0.65%) and above the OECD average (0.63%).

R&D expenditures by business enterprises

Export Table Data

	business enterprises
KOR	3,76
JAP	2,68
US	2,35
SWE	2,31
CHI	2,04
SWI	1,98
GER	1,96
BEL	1,95
FIN	1,76
OECD	1,74
AUT	1,7
DEN	1,7
UK	1,6
NLD	1,35
SGP	1,23
EU27	1,21
FRA	1,18
CAN	0,96
NOR	0,84
ESP	0,72
ITA	0,7
IRE	0,69

Data: Download as CSV file

Source: OECD/MSTI, March 2026

Notes: Performer based data.

Explanatory note
In 2023, business R&D funding in the Netherlands amounted to 1.35% of GDP. This is above the EU-27 average (1.21%) but below the OECD average (1.74%).