Research and development; personnel, expenditure, company size, branch

Research and development; personnel, expenditure, company size, branch

Company size Sector/branches (SIC2008) Periods R&D personnel Employed persons (number) R&D personnel Years of work (number) Expenditure R&D on in-house activities (mln euro) Enterprises with in-house R&D activities (number)
Total A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2022** 4,569 3,020 325 .
Total J Information and communication 2022** 39,724 27,775 2,053 .
Total 62-63 IT- and information services 2022** 32,008 21,628 1,599 .
Total 63 Information service activities 2022** 2,015 1,343 94 .
0 to 49 employed persons A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2022** 1,362 579 32 .
0 to 49 employed persons J Information and communication 2022** 15,588 8,995 503 .
0 to 49 employed persons 62-63 IT- and information services 2022** 15,058 8,657 485 .
0 to 49 employed persons 63 Information service activities 2022** 1,037 572 37 .
50 to 249 employed persons A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2022** 628 276 29 .
50 to 249 employed persons J Information and communication 2022** 8,694 6,503 496 .
50 to 249 employed persons 62-63 IT- and information services 2022** 8,051 6,008 462 .
50 to 249 employed persons 63 Information service activities 2022** 776 584 45 .
250 and more employed persons A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2022** 2,579 2,166 265 .
250 and more employed persons J Information and communication 2022** 15,442 12,278 1,054 .
250 and more employed persons 62-63 IT- and information services 2022** 8,900 6,963 652 .
250 and more employed persons 63 Information service activities 2022** 202 188 12 .
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table contains figures regarding enterprises that conduct in-house Research and Development (R&D) activities with own or external personnel. Additionally figures are available regarding the personnel and the expenditure related to these R&D activities.

The figures are broken down by company size and branch of industry according to the Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (SIC 2008).

The R&D activities are conducted in-house by own or external personnel in the Netherlands. Outsourced R&D is not included in this table. Furthermore, this table only concerns the "businesses" sector. The sectors "institutions" and "higher education" are not included in this table.

Data available from: 2013

Status of the figures:
The data regarding 2013-2021 are definitive and the data regarding 2022 are revised provisional.

Changes as of 30 August 2024:
The revised provisional figures about 2022 have been published.

As of statistical year 2022, a new sample design and weighting method are used for this statistic. This makes the published data more accurate, but this change does mean that figures on the number of R&D firms can only be published in 2025.

When will new figures be published?
Mid 2025 the figures about 2023 will be published.

Description topics

R&D personnel
The personnel that conducts the in-house R&D activities, expressed in numbers of employed persons and years of work.
Employed persons
Someone working for a company located in the Netherlands, or for an institution or private household in the Netherlands.

In order to be included in the R&D personnel an employed person needs to spend at least 0,1 FTE annually on R&D related activities.

Employed persons are all persons having paid jobs, even for only one or some hours a week, and even if they:
- work legally as such, but without registration for income tax and social security (“undeclared work”);
- are temporarily not at work, but have continued receipt of wages or salary (for instance in case of illness or hold-ups due to frost);
- are on a temporary unpaid-leave.
Employed persons can be divided into employees and the self-employed persons. They can live in the Netherlands, but also abroad.

Years of work
A measure for the volume of work, calculated by converting all jobs (full-time and part-time) into full-time jobs, also known as full-time equivalents (FTE).

As such, when combined, the volume of work of two half jobs (0.5 FTE each) totals one year of work.
Expenditure R&D on in-house activities
Enterprises with in-house R&D activities