International comparison of R&D personnel as a share of the labour force
In this data publication we show the relative share of R&D personnel in the total labour force, differentiated by two main categories: "researchers" and "other R&D personnel".
In short
- In 2024, 19 out of each 1,000 people of the Dutch labour force worked in R&D.
- Finland, Denmark, and South Korea have the highest share of R&D personnel. The Netherlands ranks sixth among the comparison countries, just ahead of Germany, Norway, and Switzerland.
- The share of researchers per 1,000 people in the Dutch labour force has risen by 3 since 2013 (last break in the trend), comparable to the average growth in OECD-countries.
| other R&D-staff | researchers | |||
| FIN | 4,98 | 17,81 | ||
| DNK | 5,74 | 16,52 | ||
| KOR | 4,25 | 17,61 | ||
| BEL | 7,15 | 14,19 | ||
| AUT | 7,12 | 13,07 | ||
| SWE | 2,26 | 17,17 | ||
| NLD | 7,55 | 11,75 | ||
| DEU | 7,10 | 11,16 | ||
| CHE | 8,05 | 10,18 | ||
| NOR | 4,53 | 13,04 | ||
| FRA | 5,19 | 11,82 | ||
| IRE | 5,27 | 11,15 | ||
| POR | 3,55 | 12,38 | ||
| CAN | 4,39 | 11,32 | ||
| CZE | 6,67 | 8,91 | ||
| EU27 | 5,35 | 9,95 | ||
| OECD | 5,13 | 9,80 | ||
| SGP | 1,98 | 12,63 | ||
| JPN | 3,38 | 10,21 | ||
| ESP | 5,04 | 8,38 | ||
| GRI | 3,56 | 9,81 | ||
| ITA | 6,43 | 6,81 | ||
| CHN | 5,98 | 4,33 |
Finland in the lead
Finland has the highest proportion of workers in R&D: 23 for every 1,000 members of the workforce. Denmark and South Korea have 22, and Belgium has 21, R&D workers per 1,000 people in the workforce. In the Netherlands, this figure is 19. The Netherlands thus ranks above the EU27 and OECD averages of 15. Finland also has the highest number of researchers per 1,000 people in the workforce: 18. In the Netherlands, the figure is 12 per 1,000. That is above the EU27 and OECD averages of 10.
Increase since 2013
Since 2013, the underlying data show an increase in the majority of countries regarding both the share of R&D personnel and the share of researchers. Countries experiencing strong growth in total R&D personnel include Belgium, South Korea, Poland, Greece, and China. The share of researchers is rising sharply in countries such as China, Belgium, and South Korea.
In 2011, the number of researchers per 1,000 people in the Netherlands was still below the OECD average; by 2024, it stands two percentage points above the 2023 OECD average and the EU27 average