R&D expenditure and capacity by field of science

The Netherlands spent a total of €24.2 billion on R&D in 2023. Much of this research is privately financed and carried out at Dutch and foreign commercial enterprises. Publicly funded research – most of it government-funded – is carried out mainly at institutions of higher education (including university medical centres) and public research institutes, at €6.3 and €1.2 billion, respectively.

This factsheet explores expenditure in six different fields of science: the Natural sciences, Engineering and Technology, Agricultural science, Medical and health sciences, the Social sciences (including economics and law) and the Humanities. The focus will be on spending at institutions of higher education and public research institutes.
 

R&D expenditure at public knowledge institutions in the Netherlands

The figure below shows public R&D expenditure by field of science.

Total R&D spending rises, percentages vary slightly
Total nominal expenditure on scientific research increased in all sectors in the period 2013-2023. Expenditure in the natural and technical sciences cluster also grew during this period. The ratio between the various scientific fields has remained virtually unchanged over these years. Approximately 3% of total expenditure goes to the humanities, 7 to 8% to agricultural sciences, 8 to 9% to social sciences, between 14 and 17% to medical sciences, between 22 and 26% to natural sciences, and between 40 and 43% to engineering.  

Looking at higher education, we see that the share of natural sciences and engineering rose slightly from 33% in 2013 to almost 37% in 2023. In medical sciences, the share fluctuates between 30% and 34%. The shares of humanities and agricultural sciences fluctuate around 9% and 5% respectively. The share of social sciences remains around 20% in the years 2013-2023.

At research institutions, the share of natural sciences and engineering remains roughly the same until 2019: around 52%. After that, it drops slightly to 47% in 2023. The share of medical sciences is around 7%. The share of agricultural sciences remains around 24%. In 2020, this share was 26%. The share of humanities and social sciences increased in the years 2013-2023 from 2% to 6% and from 12% to 16%, respectively.

In companies, the share of natural sciences has risen from 24% in 2013 to 28% in 2023, while the share of engineering has fallen from 57% to 53%. The shares of medical and social sciences remain relatively constant, at around 9% and 3% respectively. There has been a steady decline in the share of agricultural sciences, from 8% in 2013 to 6% in 2024. The humanities remain the smallest group here (less than 1%), but nominal expenditure has more than doubled since 2013.

Clear difference between universities and research institutions
The graphs show clear differences between sectors in the distribution of research across scientific fields.

Looking further at the figures for 2023, we see that more than 69% of total R&D expenditure in the Netherlands comes from companies. Higher education institutions account for 26% and research institutions for 5%. The sectors therefore clearly differ in size. At the same time, we see that in three of the six defined scientific fields, more than half of the R&D in that field is carried out by higher education institutions. This applies to the medical (55%) social (65%) sciences, and the humanities (78%). Companies are responsible for the largest share of total technical (86%), natural (76%), and agricultural sciences (65%).

Research institutions are a much smaller sector. However, they do have their own focus. Of all sectors, they devote the largest part of their research to natural sciences (33%). In addition, of the various scientific fields, this group has the largest share in agricultural sciences (17%). Research institutions therefore distinguish themselves by spending a relatively large proportion of their expenditure on agricultural sciences (24%) compared to companies (6%) and higher education institutions (5%).  

International benchmark

The figure below shows the Dutch figures in an international context. Where possible, we compare national figures for the year 2023.

The figure reveals obvious differences between the relevant countries.

Dutch higher education spends relatively more on social, humanities, agricultural and medical sciences
When we look at higher education spending on natural sciences and engineering, the Netherlands is at the lower end of the spectrum, accounting for 37% of total spending on natural sciences and engineering. The countries on the left of the figure spend more on science and technology, with only Norway scoring lower than the Netherlands. Expenditure on research in the humanities is relatively high in the Netherlands, but Spain, Italy, and Germany spend relatively more in this area. The shares of social, medical, and agricultural sciences in the Netherlands are around the average of the comparison countries.

Average expenditure of Dutch research institutions on Nature and Technology
When we look at the expenditure of research institutions for Science and Technology, we see that the Netherlands is slightly above average compared to the reference countries. In other sectors, Dutch research institutions score relatively well. In only one or two of the reference countries do research institutions spend proportionally more on agricultural (Ireland), social (Denmark and Norway), and natural sciences (Germany and Italy), and the humanities (Austria and Denmark). Only in the technical and medical sciences do Dutch research institutions spend less than average.

Reflection of the economy
One common argument is that a country’s research agenda reflects (or should reflect) the nature of its economy, since that is what drives the need for knowledge and academically trained employees. Countries such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which have relatively large service sectors, would thus have a greater need for research (and professionals) in Economics, law and other Social sciences. Countries in which manufacturing dominates, for example Japan, Korea and Germany, would need more research and researchers in the Natural sciences and Engineering. The figure below shows the relationship between the percentage that manufacturing accounts for in a country’s economy and the extent to which public investment goes to the Natural sciences and Engineering.

This figure reveals the relationship between the nature of the economy – measured by the size of the manufacturing industry – and the distribution of expenditure across the fields of science. Countries on the bottom left-hand side – the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Norway – have a relatively small manufacturing industry and spend relatively little on the natural sciences and engineering. The opposite is true for countries on the top right-hand side.

The Netherlands is third from the left (bottom), with 8.4% of its economy accounted for by manufacturing and 39.9% of public R&D expenditure being in the Natural sciences and Engineering. Germany’s manufacturing industry accounts for 17.2% of its economy and 59.5% of its public R&D investment goes to the Natural sciences and Engineering, putting it on the right (top). The Netherlands and Germany - as most countries - are both situated close to the linear regression line and both therefore devote attention and public resources to the Natural sciences and Engineering in proportion to the nature of their economies. The two countries have very different public spending patterns in the Natural sciences and Engineering, but in both cases public R&D spending is consistent with their economies. South Korea spends relatively little money on R&D in the Natural sciences and Engineering given the nature of its economy.
 

Sources of university funding in the Netherlands by field of science

We can also zoom in on Dutch university research and differentiate between the various sources of funding by field of science. Although we cannot do this on the basis of financial figures, we can measure research capacity in terms of full-time equivalents (FTEs). In the Netherlands, we differentiate between direct funding (first flow of funds), indirect funding (second flow of funds), and contract financing (third flow of funds). Direct funding is provided directly by the national government in the form of lump-sum financing. Indirect funding is competitive funding distributed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The third source of funding is also competitive and consists of contracts awarded by Dutch and foreign enterprises and public authorities.
 

The figure also shows that in 2017, research capacity in the diverse fields of science varied depending on the source of funding:

• If we look at the three sources combined, the Natural sciences and Engineering cluster is the largest at 37%, as opposed to 30% for Medical and health sciences and 20% for the Social sciences. Agricultural science and the Humanities account for the smallest shares, both at 7%.
• We see the same pattern in indirect funding and contract financing, with the Natural sciences and Engineering accounting for an even larger share of the total at 46% and 37% respectively. The third flow of funds has a relatively high percentage of Medical and health science personnel, at 34%.
• The Natural sciences and Engineering account for almost the same share of direct funding at 32% as the Social sciences and Medical and health sciences, at 27% and 29% respectively.