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, 2007

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 2007's average rate (Eurostat).

Revenue: $367.92B · 43.1% of GDP
Spending: $369.3B · 43.3% of GDP
Surplus (+) or deficit (−): -$1.56B · -0.2% of GDP

What the money is spent on

Netherlands, 2007: spending by function, as a share of all spending

Netherlands, 2007: spending by function, as a share of all spending
Row	Value (%)	Note
Social protection	34.2	$126.26B
Health	15.4	$56.98B
General public services	12.7	$46.89B
Education	11.8	$43.71B
Economic affairs	11.1	$40.97B
Public order and safety	4.2	$15.39B
Environmental protection	3.6	$13.16B
Recreation, culture and religion	3	$11.11B
Defence	2.9	$10.81B
Housing and community amenities	1.1	$4.02B

Social protection$126.26B

Social protection, in detail, as a share of it

Social protection, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Old age	36.2	$45.74B
Sickness and disability	31.7	$40.03B
Social exclusion n.e.c.	12.2	$15.37B
Family and children	9.8	$12.33B
Unemployment	5.8	$7.29B
Housing	2.4	$2.99B
Survivors	1.6	$2.04B
Social protection n.e.c.	0.3	$370.04M
R&D Social protection	0.1	$104.16M

Health$56.98B

Health, in detail, as a share of it

Health, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Hospital services	46	$26.21B
Outpatient services	28.1	$15.99B
Medical products, appliances and equipment	17.1	$9.73B
R&D Health	3.7	$2.09B
Health n.e.c.	2.9	$1.67B
Public health services	2.3	$1.29B

General public services$46.89B

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	37.6	$17.63B
Executive and legislative organs, financial and fiscal affairs, external affairs	34.8	$16.3B
Foreign economic aid	10.9	$5.13B
Basic research	8.4	$3.92B
General services	7.6	$3.55B
General public services n.e.c.	0.5	$242.58M
R&D General public services	0.2	$115.12M
Transfers of a general character between different levels of government	0	$0

Education$43.71B

Education, in detail, as a share of it

Education, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Secondary education	40.2	$17.56B
Pre-primary and primary education	31	$13.54B
Tertiary education	22.7	$9.91B
Subsidiary services to education	4.8	$2.09B
Education not definable by level	0.8	$348.11M
R&D Education	0.3	$145.27M
Education n.e.c.	0.3	$119.23M
Post-secondary non-tertiary education	0	$0

Economic affairs$40.97B

Economic affairs, in detail, as a share of it

Economic affairs, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Transport	50	$20.5B
General economic, commercial and labour affairs	15.3	$6.25B
Fuel and energy	13.7	$5.61B
R&D Economic affairs	8.3	$3.39B
Other industries	5	$2.06B
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	3.8	$1.57B
Mining, manufacturing and construction	2	$814.08M
Economic affairs n.e.c.	1.5	$623.58M
Communication	0.4	$158.98M

Public order and safety$15.39B

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	43.2	$6.65B
Prisons	20.3	$3.13B
Law courts	15.5	$2.39B
Fire-protection services	12.6	$1.95B
Public order and safety n.e.c.	7.6	$1.18B
R&D Public order and safety	0.6	$97.31M

Environmental protection$13.16B

Environmental protection, in detail, as a share of it

Environmental protection, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Waste management	39.3	$5.17B
Waste water management	33.2	$4.37B
Pollution abatement	17.8	$2.34B
Protection of biodiversity and landscape	7	$915.49M
Environmental protection n.e.c.	1.8	$231.61M
R&D Environmental protection	1.1	$138.42M

Recreation, culture and religion$11.11B

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
Recreational and sporting services	41.4	$4.6B
Cultural services	36.1	$4.01B
Broadcasting and publishing services	14	$1.56B
Religious and other community services	5.1	$570.13M
Recreation, culture and religion n.e.c.	2.1	$237.1M
R&D Recreation, culture and religion	1.2	$137.05M

Defence$10.81B

Defence, in detail, as a share of it

Defence, in detail, as a share of it
Row	Value (%)	Note
Military defence	82	$8.86B
Defence n.e.c.	9.4	$1.01B
Foreign military aid	6.1	$661.95M
R&D Defence	2.5	$269.99M
Civil defence	0	$0

Housing and community amenities$4.02B

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	45.3	$1.82B
Community development	33.7	$1.36B
R&D Housing and community amenities	7.7	$311.1M
Housing and community amenities n.e.c.	6.9	$278.21M
Water supply	3.3	$131.57M
Street lighting	3.1	$123.35M

Where the money comes from

Netherlands, 2007: revenue by kind, as a share of all revenue

Netherlands, 2007: revenue by kind, as a share of all revenue
Row	Value (%)	Note
Social contributions	32	$117.85B
Taxes on sales, production and imports	27	$99.42B
Taxes on income and wealth	24.5	$90.09B
Sales, fees and charges	10.2	$37.54B
Income from property (interest, dividends, rent)	4.4	$16.1B
Other transfers received	0.9	$3.36B
Capital transfers and taxes received	0.8	$3.1B
Subsidies received	0.1	$461.86M

Taxes on sales, production and imports$99.42B

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	57.8		$57.5B
Not broken down, or fitting no category	42.2		$41.92B

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.

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