British investments in the Netherlands up since 2016

© Hollandse Hoogte
The United Kingdom is among the most important investment partners of the Netherlands. Since the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016, new Dutch investments in the UK have declined while existing investments have even been pulled out. On the other hand, British investments in the Netherlands have risen steadily, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS) in the publication on the main trends in Dutch international trade which was launched yesterday. The publication, entitled Nederland Handelsland in Dutch, will be available in English at the end of October 2019.

International investments are those investments which are made by companies choosing to establish or take over a subsidiary in a foreign country. A company holding ultimate control over its subsidiaries in multiple countries is referred to as a multinational. For several decades, CBS has been taking stock of multinational activities.
Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, there has been a substantial rise in the annual inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK into the Netherlands. From an amount of 14 billion euros in 2016, it more than doubled in 2017 to reach a record amount of 80 billion euros in 2018. British investments in the Netherlands have not been higher over the past eight years. It is also the largest amount of FDI by any foreign country into the Netherlands in 2018.
Total British investments outstanding in the Netherlands amount to 422 billion euros. Only the United States and Luxembourg have more FDI outstanding in the Netherlands.
Investments from the Netherlands into the United Kingdom have declined since 2016. These still amounted to 50 billion euros in 2016 but had more than halved in 2017. By 2018, there was even a divestment - i.e. withdrawal of existing investments - to a total of 11 billion euros.

1,310 British subsidiaries in the Netherlands

In 2016, altogether 1,310 British subsidiaries of multinationals were active in the Netherlands, providing in total 114 thousand jobs. This made the UK the fourth largest foreign employer in the Netherlands after the United States, Germany and France.

Employment at foreign multinationals in the Netherlands
 United States (x 1,000)Germany (x 1,000)United Kingdom (x 1,000)Belgium (x 1,000)France (x 1,000)Japan (x 1,000)
20132051321072812133
20142141301052711432
20152161401373112332
20162011491143213880


The other way round, in 2016 there were 1,287 subsidiaries of Dutch multinationals active in the United Kingdom which employed 182 thousand people. This made the United Kingdom the fourth largest destination for Dutch multinationals, after Germany, the United States and France.

Foreign subsidiaries under Dutch control
 20102016
Germany32643806
France15571853
United States16851700
United Kingdom13761287
China795695
Poland622511
Brazil215275
Russia280255
Canada285250
Source: CBS, Eurostat.

Dutch trade in facts and figures

Nederland Handelsland is a publication with the results of customised research commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conducted by the CBS expertise centre on globalisation. The publication provides a comprehensive overview of current trends and developments in the Netherlands’ international trade position. An English translation is planned for the end of October 2019. It will include details such as the contribution of exports to GDP and to employment, the characteristics of the internationally active business community, the types of goods and the countries involved in multilateral trade, the extent to which Dutch domestic exports of intermediate goods are utilised abroad, and the outflow of Dutch investments as well as the inflow of foreign investments.

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