Netherlands Country Analysis Report analyzes the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) structure of Netherlands. The report provides a holistic view of the country from historical, current and future perspectives. Insightful analysis on critical current and future issues is presented through detailed SCPT (strengths, challenges, prospects and threats/risks) analysis for each of the PESTLE segments. In addition, the PESTLE segments are supplemented with relevant quantitative data to support trend analysis.

Uses of Country Analysis Reports:

Understanding gained from country profiles can be used to plan business investment or market entry in a particular country. The insights provide ideas about key business opportunities. The profiles also provide an overview of the legal and regulatory framework to start or operate a business in the country. Typical uses of each PESTLE segment are:
• Political section provides understanding about the political system and key figures relevant to business in the country and governance indicators.
• Economic section deals with the economic story of a country that provides a balanced assessment of significant macro-economic issues.
• Social section enables understanding of customer demographics through income distribution, rural-urban segmentation and centres of affluence, healthcare and educational scenario.
• Technological section provides strategic information on technology and telecom, technological laws and policies, technological gaps, patents and opportunity sectors in the country.
• Legal section provides information about the legal structure, corporate laws, laws to start a new business and the tax regime.
• Environmental section provides information on the country’s performance on environmental indicators and policies.

Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Key facts and geographical location 9
Key facts 9
Geographical location 10
PESTLE analysis 11
Summary 11
Political analysis 12
Economic analysis 16
Social analysis 20
Technological analysis 23
Legal analysis 27
Environmental analysis 30
Political landscape 34
Summary 34
Evolution 34
Structure and policies 37
Performance 42
Outlook 43
Economic landscape 44
Summary 44
Evolution 44
Structure and policies 46
Performance 49
Outlook 64
Social landscape 65
Summary 65
Evolution 65
Structure and policies 66
Performance 69
Outlook 71
Technological landscape 73
Summary 73
Evolution 73
Structure and policies 73
Performance 74
Outlook 79
Legal landscape 80
Summary 80
Evolution 80
Structure and policies 80
Performance 85
Outlook 85
Environmental landscape 87
Summary 87
Evolution 87
Structure and policies 87
Performance 89
Outlook 90
APPENDIX 91
Ask the analyst 91
Datamonitor consulting 91
Disclaimer 91

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Map of Netherlands 10
Figure 2: The Netherlands – political events timeline 35
Figure 3: The Netherlands – key political figures 37
Figure 4: Distribution of seats in the lower house of the Netherlands 40
Figure 5: Evolution of GDP growth in the Netherlands, 1970–2008 46
Figure 6: Market capitalization of Euronext (for companies in the Netherlands), 2003–08 48
Figure 7: GDP growth rate of the Netherlands, 2002–12 50
Figure 8: Sector specific GDP in the Netherlands, 2008 51
Figure 9: Agricultural output in the Netherlands, 2001–08 52
Figure 10: Industrial output in the Netherlands, 2001–08 53
Figure 11: Services output in the Netherlands, 2001–08 54
Figure 12: Current account balance in the Netherlands, 2001–08 56
Figure 13: The Netherlands’ external trade position, 2004–08 57
Figure 14: FDI inflow in the Netherlands, 2002–08 59
Figure 15: Euro to dollar exchange rate, 2000–08 60
Figure 16: Consumer price index and CPI-based inflation in the Netherlands, 2002–08 61
Figure 17: Major religions in the Netherlands 67
Figure 18: Healthcare expenditure in the Netherlands, 2002–08 70
Figure 19: Education expenditure in the Netherlands, 2002–08 71
Figure 20: Growth of fixed and mobile phones in the Netherlands, 2002–12 75
Figure 21: Internet users in the Netherlands, 2002–12 76
Figure 22: R&D expenditure in the Netherlands, 2002–09 78
Figure 23: R&D personnel in the Netherlands, 2000–07 79
Figure 24: Carbon dioxide emissions in the Netherlands, 2002–08 90

TABLES
Table 1: The Netherlands – key fundamentals 4
Table 2: The Netherlands – key facts 9
Table 3: Analysis of the Netherlands’ political landscape 12
Table 4: Analysis of the Netherlands’ economic landscape 16
Table 5: Analysis of the Netherlands’ social landscape 20
Table 6: Analysis of the Netherlands’s technology landscape 23
Table 7: Analysis of the Netherlands’s legal landscape 27
Table 8: Analysis of the Netherlands’s environmental landscape 30
Table 9: Mid-year population by age (millions) in 2006 66
Table 10: Patents received by the Netherlands – 2000–06 74
Table 11: Income tax rates in the Netherlands, 2008 83
Table 12: International environmental treaties signed and ratified by the Netherlands 89