Public budgets

Netherlands: public budget

What Netherlands's government raised and what it spent it on, from the figures its own budget laws or a statistics office publish. Solon places every figure on the same international classification, so it can be compared with any other place.

General government, 1999

Outturn: what came in and was spent

General government: central, state and local government and social security funds together, consolidated so that money passed between them is counted once, as Eurostat's government finance statistics (ESA 2010) count it.

Amounts in USD, converted from EUR at 1999's average rate (Eurostat).

Revenue: $199.53B · 44.6% of GDP
Spending: $198.26B · 44.3% of GDP
Surplus (+) or deficit (−): $1.27B · 0.3% of GDP

What the money is spent on

Netherlands, 1999: spending by function, as a share of all spending

Netherlands, 1999: spending by function, as a share of all spending
Row	Value (%)	Note
Social protection	35.8	$71.02B
General public services	17	$33.78B
Economic affairs	11.7	$23.26B
Education	10.9	$21.69B
Health	10.2	$20.14B
Defence	3.7	$7.26B
Environmental protection	3.3	$6.6B
Public order and safety	3.2	$6.44B
Recreation, culture and religion	2.8	$5.6B
Housing and community amenities	1.3	$2.48B

Social protection$71.02B

Social protection, in detail, as a share of it

Social protection, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Sickness and disability	34.6	$24.56B
Old age	33.5	$23.8B
Social exclusion n.e.c.	10.5	$7.45B
Unemployment	8.7	$6.19B
Family and children	7.3	$5.17B
Survivors	2.5	$1.79B
Housing	2.4	$1.68B
Social protection n.e.c.	0.4	$318.67M
R&D Social protection	0.1	$59.68M

General public services$33.78B

General public services, in detail, as a share of it

General public services, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Public debt transactions	54.8	$18.52B
Executive and legislative organs, financial and fiscal affairs, external affairs	24.8	$8.38B
Foreign economic aid	7.6	$2.57B
Basic research	7.4	$2.49B
General services	5	$1.7B
General public services n.e.c.	0.2	$75.67M
R&D General public services	0.1	$41.57M
Transfers of a general character between different levels of government	0	$0

Economic affairs$23.26B

Economic affairs, in detail, as a share of it

Economic affairs, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Transport	49.4	$11.49B
General economic, commercial and labour affairs	15.4	$3.59B
R&D Economic affairs	13	$3.02B
Fuel and energy	6.3	$1.46B
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	6	$1.39B
Other industries	5.1	$1.18B
Economic affairs n.e.c.	2.6	$616.03M
Mining, manufacturing and construction	2	$455.1M
Communication	0.3	$61.82M

Education$21.69B

Education, in detail, as a share of it

Education, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Pre-primary and primary education	36.3	$7.86B
Secondary education	34.4	$7.45B
Tertiary education	22.6	$4.91B
Subsidiary services to education	4.5	$977.34M
Education not definable by level	1.5	$327.2M
R&D Education	0.4	$86.33M
Education n.e.c.	0.3	$72.47M
Post-secondary non-tertiary education	0	$0

Health$20.14B

Health, in detail, as a share of it

Health, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Hospital services	47.2	$9.51B
Outpatient services	27.2	$5.48B
Medical products, appliances and equipment	16	$3.22B
R&D Health	5.2	$1.04B
Public health services	2.8	$570.2M
Health n.e.c.	1.5	$309.08M

Defence$7.26B

Defence, in detail, as a share of it

Defence, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Military defence	85	$6.17B
Defence n.e.c.	10.8	$783.36M
Foreign military aid	3.5	$254.73M
R&D Defence	0.7	$49.03M
Civil defence	0	$0

Environmental protection$6.6B

Environmental protection, in detail, as a share of it

Environmental protection, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Waste management	43.3	$2.85B
Waste water management	30.6	$2.02B
Pollution abatement	15.5	$1.03B
Protection of biodiversity and landscape	7.5	$494.53M
Environmental protection n.e.c.	2.1	$140.69M
R&D Environmental protection	1	$66.08M

Public order and safety$6.44B

Public order and safety, in detail, as a share of it

Public order and safety, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Police services	47.6	$3.06B
Prisons	19.6	$1.26B
Law courts	13.4	$863.3M
Fire-protection services	11.4	$731.14M
Public order and safety n.e.c.	7.2	$460.43M
R&D Public order and safety	0.9	$59.68M

Recreation, culture and religion$5.6B

Recreation, culture and religion, in detail, as a share of it

Recreation, culture and religion, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Cultural services	42	$2.35B
Recreational and sporting services	36.6	$2.05B
Broadcasting and publishing services	13.7	$769.51M
Religious and other community services	4.2	$235.54M
R&D Recreation, culture and religion	1.8	$102.32M
Recreation, culture and religion n.e.c.	1.6	$91.66M

Housing and community amenities$2.48B

Housing and community amenities, in detail, as a share of it

Housing and community amenities, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Housing development	45.2	$1.12B
Community development	32.4	$804.68M
Housing and community amenities n.e.c.	12.4	$306.95M
R&D Housing and community amenities	7.3	$180.12M
Street lighting	2.7	$66.08M
Water supply	0.1	$3.2M

Where the money comes from

Netherlands, 1999: revenue by kind, as a share of all revenue

Netherlands, 1999: revenue by kind, as a share of all revenue
Row	Value (%)	Note
Social contributions	35.4	$70.59B
Taxes on sales, production and imports	25.3	$50.5B
Taxes on income and wealth	24.3	$48.49B
Sales, fees and charges	9.2	$18.39B
Income from property (interest, dividends, rent)	3.6	$7.23B
Other transfers received	1.1	$2.27B
Capital transfers and taxes received	0.9	$1.82B
Subsidies received	0.1	$236.61M

Taxes on sales, production and imports$50.5B

Taxes on sales, production and imports, in detail, as a share of it

Taxes on sales, production and imports, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Share	Note
Value added tax	56.9		$28.71B
Not broken down, or fitting no category	43.1		$21.79B

Over the years

Netherlands: revenue and spending, 1995–2025

Netherlands: revenue and spending, 1995–2025
Period	Revenue (% of GDP)	Spending (% of GDP)
1,995	46.1	54.8
1,996	46.2	48.1
1,997	44.9	46.5
1,998	44.1	45.4
1,999	44.6	44.3
2,000	44.3	43.2
2,001	43.6	44.1
2,002	42.6	44.8
2,003	42.6	45.8
2,004	42.9	44.7
2,005	42.9	43.4
2,006	44	44
2,007	43.1	43.3
2,008	44.2	44.3
2,009	43.3	48.4
2,010	43.6	48.9
2,011	43.4	47.8
2,012	43.8	47.6
2,013	44.6	47.5
2,014	44.5	46.7
2,015	43.5	45.3
2,016	44.1	43.9
2,017	44.2	42.8
2,018	43.9	42.4
2,019	44	42.1
2,020	44.1	47.8
2,021	43.6	45.9
2,022	43.3	43.3
2,023	43.7	44
2,024	43.6	44.4
2,025	43.6

Where these figures come from

Series read from Eurostat, government finance statistics (gov_10a_main, gov_10a_exp) on 2026-11-11.

Change it

Think this money should be raised or spent differently? Draft it as a proposal: a proposal is evidence of support, handed to whoever decides, never law.

Propose a change to this budget Compare one function across countries →