Composition of Dutch international trade
Dutch enterprises import and export many goods and services every year. These import and export flows vary greatly with regard to the groups of goods and services traded, the industries responsible and the types of exports. Which types of enterprises are responsible for the growth in exports of goods and how do those enterprises grow – by tapping into the potential offered by new destinations, by exporting new products or both? What is the export strategy that manufacturing enterprises in the Netherlands use to export goods?
4.1Key findings
The total value of Dutch goods exports was nearly 516 billion euros in 2019.noot1 Exports of services totalled some 236 billion euros and increased sharply last year. Exports of goods rose by nearly 4 percent from 2018, while exports of services jumped by about 12 percent.
A small majority of total exports of goods consists of Dutch-manufactured products. At 55 percent, domestic exports accounted for 285 billion euros in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percent. However, re-exports grew more rapidly, by 5.4 percent to 231 billion euros in 2019.
The most important export goods were machinery and transport equipment, accounting for almost 30 percent of the total. Other major exports were chemical products, mineral fuels, food and live animals, and manufactured goods. Imports of goods also consisted to a great extent of machinery and transport equipment, but also of mineral fuels, manufactured goods and chemical products. In imports and exports of services, the largest categories were business services and the use of intellectual property.
Wholesale trade and manufacturing were the most important sectors for both imports and exports of goods in 2019. Within manufacturing, it is the food, chemical and machinery industries that export most goods. As regards exports of services, the transport and storage sector was the largest in 2018, while for imports of services, it was the wholesale and retail sector, together with manufacturing, and consultancy and research.
The growth in exports of goods is largely due to an increase in the export value of existing trade relations. In particular, enterprises are increasing their exports of existing products to existing destinations. It also appears that enterprises exporting a new product to a new destination are more important for export growth than enterprises with an existing destination and a new product or enterprises with a new destination and an existing product.
In 2018, exports of Dutch manufacturing enterprises included approximately 22 billion euros in carry-along trade. These are products that the enterprises have not produced themselves, but that they bundle together with their own products in order to create extra value added. Some 37 percent of industrial exporters used carry-along trade as an export strategy in 2018, with existing destinations being more important as a market for the carry-along trade than for their own core exports.
4.2Goods exports by type of product
Exports of goods from the Netherlands totalled nearly 516 billion euros in 2019 (Figure 4.2.1). This was a rise of 3.6 percent year-on-year. In addition, services worth nearly 236 billion euros were exported in 2019, an increase of no less than 12 percent compared to 2018.noot2
| Jaar | Goods exports | Service exports |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 371.5 | . |
| 2011 | 409.4 | . |
| 2012 | 429.7 | . |
| 2013 | 433.1 | . |
| 2014 | 433.4 | 155.3 |
| 2015 | 419.0 | 178.3 |
| 2016 | 423.2 | 172.5 |
| 2017 | 467.4 | 195.4 |
| 2018 | 497.9 | 210.3 |
| 2019 | 515.9 | 235.7 |
Machinery and transport equipment account for almost 30 percent of total goods exports
The goods that make up by far the largest share of exports are machinery and transport equipment. These include telecommunication equipment, data-processing machines, office equipment and motor vehicles. At 153 billion euros, this commodity group accounted for nearly 30 percent of total exports in 2019. In addition, exports of these goods rose by more than 6 percent compared to the previous year. However, it was not this group that rose most strongly. The biggest increase was in exports of manufactured goods, which grew by more than 9 percent last year to nearly 64 billion euros – more than 12 percent of total exports of goods. Manufactured goods include furniture, clothing and measuring instruments.
In 2019, the Netherlands exported nearly 88 billion euros worth of chemical products, around 68 billion euros worth of mineral fuels and close to 67 billion euros worth of food and live animals. Exports of food and live animals also saw an increase of more than 5 percent compared to 2018; exports of chemical products edged up by nearly 1 percent; while mineral fuel exports decreased by more than 1 percent. The low growth in the export value of chemical products and the contraction in the export value of mineral fuels can partly be explained by the lower oil price in 2019 compared to 2018. Figure 4.2.2 shows that exports of the five most exported commodity groups in 2019 have increased almost every year since 2015.
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machinery and transport equipment |
117.1 | 120.9 | 132.6 | 143.9 | 152.9 |
| Chemicals | 74.5 | 73.6 | 81.3 | 86.7 | 87.5 |
| Mineral fuels | 57.0 | 51.0 | 61.3 | 68.9 | 68.1 |
| Food and live animals | 56.5 | 58.8 | 62.5 | 63.4 | 66.7 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured goods |
45.5 | 48.9 | 53.7 | 58.2 | 63.7 |
The Netherlands exported Dutch-manufactured products worth 285 billion euros in 2019
Around 55 percent of goods exported by the Netherlands are Dutch-manufactured.noot3 This means that they have either been produced or have undergone significant processing here. Dutch manufacturing generates relatively large revenues and is therefore important for the country’s economy. At 51 cents per euro, exports of Dutch-manufactured goods are considerably more profitable than re-exports of goods, which earn 14 cents per euro (see Chapter 2).
Total exports of Dutch-manufactured goods grew by 2.2 percent to 285 billion euros in 2019. The largest group of Dutch export goods was once again machinery and transport equipment, with a share of nearly 24 percent (Figure 4.2.3). In addition, substantial amounts of chemical products, food and live animals, and mineral fuels manufactured in the Netherlands were exported. Chemical products accounted for 19 percent of the total, followed by food and live animals (17 percent) and mineral fuels (15 percent). A comparison with goods exports in 2015 shows that the export value of machinery and transport equipment has also increased the most, while the export value of commodity groups such as beverages and oils and fats has hardly risen since 2015.
| Goederengroep | 2015 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Food and live animals |
41.6 | 47.9 |
| Beverages and tobacco |
4.1 | 4.5 |
| Raw materials | 13.9 | 16.5 |
| Mineral fuels |
39.5 | 43.2 |
| Oils and fats | 2.5 | 2.4 |
| Chemical products |
47.1 | 53 |
| Manufactured goods | 23.3 | 25.3 |
| Machinery and transport equipment |
52.8 | 68.2 |
| Manufactured goods | 16.1 | 21.6 |
| Other | 1.6 | 2.3 |
Re-exports
Dutch enterprises import a relatively large amount of goods that are either not processed here or only to a very limited extent, after which they are re-exported. This form of exports – re-exports – accounted for nearly 45 percent of the total value of goods exports in 2019. This was the highest share of total goods exports since 2014. Re-exports as a whole grew by 5.4 percent in 2019 to 231 billion euros. Here, too, machinery and transport equipment were by far the largest export category, making up nearly 37 percent of the total. Manufactured goods (18 percent), chemical products (15 percent) and mineral fuels (11 percent) also made up a large part of the total.
4.3Composition of growth in goods exports
The previous section showed that goods exports have increased in recent years, but the question is what brought about this growth. Did Dutch enterprises enter new markets, export new products, or both? Are there specific groups of enterprises that saw their exports grow rapidly or that experienced a decline? Did many enterprises in the Netherlands begin exporting for the first time or stop exporting? Based on a new set of three related tables recently published on StatLine (Composition of the development of goods exports: export characteristics; Composition of the development of goods exports: exporter characteristic; Composition of the development of goods exports: exporter behaviour), we provide information in this section on the composition of the growth of goods exports. A research account for these tables is included in the annex to this chapter: Section 4.9.
Growth in export value mainly at large enterprises
We first examine which groups of enterprises contribute to the growth in goods exports. Figure 4.3.1 shows that in 2018, the bulk of export growth for which the enterprise responsible is known was generated by large enterprises. This includes enterprises with more than 250 employees and the subsidiaries of foreign multinationals. These enterprises produce more than three-quarters of exports, and at 2.6 percentage points, they clearly also account for a significant proportion of export growth. The various groups of independent SMEs make a relatively small contribution to the growth in goods exports.
Large enterprises were also responsible for the largest share of export growth in 2017. In 2016, there was a relatively small increase of 1 percent in total export growth, with independent SMEs responsible for a larger share of the growth than large enterprises.
| Bedrijfsomvang | Independent SMEs (0-9) | Independent SMEs (10-49) | Independent SMEs (50-249) | Large enterprises including (subsidiaries of) foreign multinationals | Unknown | Dutch multinationals | Foreign multinationals | Non-multinationals | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise size | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 3.1 | . | . | . | . |
| Multinationality | . | . | . | . | . | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 3.1 |
If we differentiate by multinationality, we see that the contributions of Dutch and foreign multinationals to export growth are more or less equal, at around 1.5 percent (see the bottom bar of Figure 4.3.1). In comparison, non-multinational enterprises play a relatively limited role, accounting for approximately 1 percent of export growth in 2018. See the research account in Section 4.9 for a further explanation of the share of trade that is unknown.
Growth in export value mainly due to increased exports to major trading partners
If we look at the growth in exports by country of destination, as shown in Figure 4.3.2, we see that this growth was mainly in exports to countries that are already very important for Dutch exporters. Germany, the United States and Belgium were the countries of destination that saw the strongest growth in exports in 2018. A notable country here is Nigeria, which accounted for 0.4 percentage points of export growth in that year. We export substantial amounts of processed mineral fuels to that country, and the strong growth in the value of exports to Nigeria in 2018 may have been due to the high oil price that year.
| Land | Contribution to export growth |
|---|---|
| Germany | 1.3 |
| United States | 0.7 |
| Belgium | 0.5 |
| Nigeria | 0.4 |
| France | 0.3 |
When export growth is broken down by type of goods, we see that machinery and transport equipment contributed most to growth in 2018. Other important commodity groups were mineral fuels (1.6 percentage points), chemical products (1.2 percentage points), and various manufactured goods (1 percentage point).
| Contraction | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting or discontinuing exporters |
-0.7 | 0.5 |
| Existing products and destinations |
-10.4 | 13.8 |
| New or discontinued destination country |
-1.4 | 1.5 |
| New or discontinued product |
-0.4 | 0.5 |
| New or discontinued destination/product combination |
-1.5 | 1.7 |
| Unknown | . | 3.2 |
Growth in export value is mainly to existing trading partners with existing package of exports
Export growth can also be detailed according to exporters’ behavioural patterns, as shown in Figure 4.3.3. This shows clearly that exports of existing products to existing destinations are the most dynamic and contribute most to trade value, with enterprises exporting either more or less of a specific product to a specific country than in the previous year. This growth along what is called the intensive margin can be achieved, for example, if enterprises succeed in increasing their market share in the country of destination, because overall demand has increased or because enterprises are better able to meet existing demand. In 2018, this accounted for 13.8 percent more exports of goods to existing destinations. This growth was offset by a decline for some enterprises in exports of existing products to existing destinations. This contraction in export value was more than 10 percent from 2017 to 2018.
The situation in which growth is strongest for exports of existing products to existing destinations can also be found when we look at the breakdown by the level of development of exporters (Figure 4.3.4). CBS (2019) already showed that most of the export value is generated by mature exporters, and they also appear to be responsible for the largest share of export growth. We see that mature exporters made the largest contribution to export growth, followed a long way behind by first-time exporters.
| Ontwikkelingsniveau exporteur | Starting exporters | Intermittent exporters | Young exporters | Mature exporters | Discontinuing exporters | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 3.1 | -0.4 | 2.7 |
Exporters that start and stop have minor impact on growth in export value
Every year there are of course enterprises that sell their goods abroad for the first time, or stop exporting. With the exception of 2016, the contributions of the two groups are more or less balanced: the positive contribution to export growth of new exporters is offset by the negative effect of those that withdraw from exporting.
Finally, the Dutch goods trade is dynamic, because exporters start or stop exporting certain products or to certain countries. Overall, the net effect on total exports of goods is usually positive, but limited. In 2018, for example, growth in export value of 1.5 percent was achieved by exporters who sold a product they already had in their export portfolio to a country of destination that was new to them. The greatest growth in export value due to new products and/or destinations is achieved, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, by enterprises starting to export products that are new to them to destination markets that are new to them. Conversely, scrapping specific combinations of product and country of destination makes the largest contribution to the decline in goods exports.
Export growth is largely along intensive margin
What is striking is that growth and contraction along the intensive margin were fairly balanced between 2012 and 2016, and that there was much more movement in existing products and destinations than in new combinations. During this period, growth in goods exports as a whole was practically at a standstill. In the two most recent years, growth along the intensive margin was significantly stronger than contraction, while goods exports as a whole also showed substantial growth. This makes the dynamics of existing, ongoing trade relations an important foundation for the development of goods exports.
4.4Goods exports by sector and carry-along trade in manufacturing
In the previous section, we saw what makes up the growth of goods exports by distinguishing between exports of existing and new products and destinations, and by distinguishing between the enterprises responsible for that growth. In this section, we will look at exports by industry, after which we will turn the spotlight on manufacturing. We will distinguish industrial exports by the type of goods exports of enterprises. As well as goods that they have manufactured themselves, enterprises can also export products from other manufacturers. This is known as carry-along trade.
Enterprises in manufacturing and in wholesale and retail trade are largest exporters of goods
Most goods are exported by enterprises in manufacturing and the wholesale and retail trade: both sectors have an export value of around 150 billion euros. This is not surprising, as manufacturing produces the majority of these goods, and many enterprises in the wholesale and retail sector have as their core business the purchase and subsequent trading of these goods. These two sectors together account for some 58 percent of total export value. A further 31 percent of total export value cannot be attributed to a sector, because the exporting enterprise is unknown. The transport and storage sectors, and consultancy and research each account for about 3 percent of export value.
| Bedrijfstak | Food | Chemicals | Rubber and plastic products | Metal products | Computers and appliances | Other machinery and appliances |
Cars | Repair and installation | Other manufacturing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27.462 | 23.709 | 4.933 | 13.415 | 6.981 | 26.261 | 6.818 | 5.839 | 35.013 |
If we focus on manufacturing exports, as shown in Figure 4.4.1, we see that the food products industry, the machinery industry and the chemical industry are the largest exporters. The remaining parts of the manufacturing sector, such as the clothing and textile industry, the timber industry and the paper industry, all have a share of less than 1 percent of total export value.
Carry-along trade
Carry-along trade (CAT) is an export strategy of enterprises to export not only their own products, but also, on a structural basis, goods that they have not produced themselves. By bundling products in this way, the exporters are of even greater value added to their customers, and earn revenue themselves. Furthermore, Van den Berg et al. (2019) show that the share of carry-along trade benefits an enterprise’s productivity.
Exporters can supply products that are complementary to their own export product, such as the sale of glasses when exporting beer. The beer producer may have imported those glasses, but it can charge its customers a small margin for them. Moreover, the manufacturer of beer glasses does not itself have to look for foreign customers. This form of carry-along trade is also called product enrichment. Another form of this trade is when exporters also sell the intermediate goods of their core product, produced by other enterprises, as spare parts. In a third practice, an exporter can bundle products under a strong brand name, such as the link between makes of cars and clothing manufacturers.
In addition, there is a form of carry-along trade based on trade in services. An exporter can enrich its exports with additional services – sometimes obtained from an external party – such as maintenance contracts or financing. However, this form is not included here, because in this section, we are only considering trade in goods.
We combine the figures on industrial production in the Netherlands with the figures on the international trade in goods to determine how an enterprise’s exports are structured. We only classify enterprises that have their own production into forms of exports. Export products are divided into the following four forms of exports:
- Core exports, which are all products produced by the enterprises in a specific industry. All self-produced export products of an enterprise therefore belong to its core exports;
- Carry-along trade (CAT), which covers products that an enterprise has not produced itself, and that it bundles together with its own core exports, creating value that is based on a structural earnings model;
- Core-related non-CAT, which are core products that the enterprise has not produced itself and that are therefore considered to be potential CAT exports, but that are ultimately not CAT exports, for example because they are exported to a country to which no core exports are sold;
- Other exports, which are products that are not produced by an enterprise itself and do not belong to either of the previous two categories.
An extensive method description with the decision-making rules for classifying exports can be found in an earlier publication of the Internationalisation Monitor (Van den Berg et al., 2018). Dutch enterprises exported goods worth 498 billion euros in 2018. Around 113 billion euros of this total, or nearly 22 percent of total goods exports, can be traced back to Dutch manufacturing and thus potentially contains carry-along trade. These exports are concentrated in nearly 3,700 Dutch manufacturing enterprises that export themselves and not, for example, through wholesalers. Around 37 percent of industrial exporters had carry-along trade as an export strategy in 2018, while some 63 percent did not. This ratio is in line with previous years.
22 billion euros in carry-along trade in 2018
Carry along trade (CAT) accounted for around 19 percent of the goods exports of exporting manufacturers in 2018, or approximately 22 billion euros. Nearly three-quarters of CAT exports consist of products that are part of the enterprise’s core product range, such as a variant of a core product which the manufacturer does not produce itself, or a part of it. An example could be an enterprise that processes and exports milk, but that also buys quark from another enterprise and exports it together with milk to the same country. In 2018, a quarter of CAT export products were not part of the enterprise’s core business, but they led to product enrichment through bundling with the core products.
| Core exports | Carry-along trade (CAT) | Non-CAT related to core exports | Other exports | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 63.1 | 20.7 | 9.1 | 7.8 |
| 2016 | 62.5 | 20.2 | 8.6 | 7.9 |
| 2017 | 70.6 | 21.8 | 8.4 | 8.7 |
| 2018 | 72.1 | 21.9 | 9.4 | 9.2 |
Importance of carry-along trade decreasing
The share of carry-along trade in total exports of goods by exporting manufacturers has declined slightly, from 21 percent in 2015 to about 19 percent in 2018 (Figure 4.4.2). This decline mainly benefited core exports, which accounted for 64 percent of total exports in 2018. It is logical that self-produced core exports make up the largest share of total exports, as these are an enterprise’s main activity. In addition to CAT, exports by manufacturing enterprises included 8 percent of core-related non-CAT and 8 percent of other exports.
Variation in exports by industry
If we look at the composition of industrial exports by industry in Figure 4.4.3, we see broadly the same picture, with a few exceptions. For example, the pharmaceutical industry has a low percentage of core exports, at 36 percent, and a particularly high share of other exports, at 34 percent. The other exports do not belong to any of the remaining export categories, for example because the product was exported to a country only on an occasional basis or only once during a reporting year. The pharmaceutical industry, which is a relatively small sector, consists of a small number of large exporters, so that minor changes, such as administrative changes, can have a major impact on our figures.
The paper and printing industry has the largest share of carry-along trade, at nearly 29 percent, which is accompanied by a low share of core exports. The electrical engineering and machinery industry is also above average, with CAT exports making up a quarter of the total. This is again accompanied by a relatively low share of core exports. The food products industry, which is the largest industry together with chemical products and electrical engineering, also has a relatively high share of CAT exports. This is at the expense of other exports and core-related non-CAT. The remaining industries have roughly 60–75 percent of core exports, 10–20 percent of carry-along trade, 5–10 percent of core-related non-CAT, and 10–15 percent of other exports.
| Core exports | Carry-along trade (CAT) | Non-CAT related to core exports | Other exports | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceuticals | 1171 | 473 | 513 | 1102 |
| Paper and printing | 1274 | 940 | 566 | 469 |
| Machinery and electrotechnical products |
15683 | 6918 | 3291 | 1689 |
| Metals | 8022 | 1260 | 1238 | 1234 |
| Chemical and plastic products |
18854 | 5108 | 1440 | 2257 |
| Timber and building materials |
1040 | 213 | 62 | 216 |
| Food, beverages and tobacco |
17488 | 5616 | 1269 | 496 |
| Transport equipment | 6590 | 1049 | 767 | 1525 |
| Textiles, clothes and leather |
1224 | 202 | 117 | 140 |
| Other | 705 | 91 | 143 | 104 |
Figure 4.4.4 shows the development of carry-along trade as a share of total exports. It shows that the share of CAT exports has remained fairly stable in most industries since 2015, although there is a clear upward trend in the electrical engineering and machinery industry. As previously discussed, the pharmaceutical industry is an exception when we look at the distribution of exports. This is also visible here, with a halving of the share of CAT exports from 33 per cent in 2015 to 15 per cent in 2018.
| Pharmaceuticals | Paper and printing | Machinery and electrotechnical products | Metals | Chemical and plastic products | Timber and building materials | Food, beverages and tobacco | Transport equipment | Textiles, clothes and leather | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 33.4 | 33.4 | 20.4 | 12.3 | 20.9 | 9.8 | 24.0 | 11.5 | 13.2 | 13.4 |
| 2016 | 35.0 | 30.5 | 22.5 | 11.2 | 19.6 | 16.1 | 22.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 |
| 2017 | 28.1 | 26.9 | 25.0 | 11.0 | 18.7 | 11.7 | 22.6 | 9.9 | 11.1 | 13.8 |
| 2018 | 14.5 | 28.9 | 25.1 | 10.7 | 18.5 | 13.9 | 22.6 | 10.6 | 12.0 | 8.7 |
EU is main market for carry-along trade
For exporting manufacturers, the EU is the main market for their products, accounting for 63 percent of total exports. However, this share has decreased over the years, and we see the same picture when we focus on CAT exports. The EU is also the most important market for CAT exports, but this importance declined from 68 percent in 2015 to just 61 percent in 2018. Carry-along trade exports are sold to existing destinations such as Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom to a greater extent than core exports. The 20 most important destinations for CAT account for 86 percent of CAT exports and only 80 percent of total goods exports. Among these 20 major trading partners, it is mainly the more distant destinations that have a relatively large share of CAT exports compared to total goods exports, such as the United States, South Korea and Taiwan. This may be linked to the large share of CAT exports in the electrical engineering and machinery industry, as those countries import a relatively large number of machines from the Netherlands. In contrast, countries such as France, Italy and Spain are less important markets for CAT exports than for total exports.
4.5Exports of services by type of service
Exports of services from the Netherlands totalled nearly 236 billion euros in 2019. This was a sharp rise of around 12 percent from the total of 210 billion euros in 2018. Figure 4.5.1 shows that, with the exception of 2016, exports of services have been increasing for a number of years.
| Jaar | Export value |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 155 |
| 2015 | 178 |
| 2016 | 173 |
| 2017 | 195 |
| 2018 | 210 |
| 2019 | 236 |
In 2019, the category of other business services was the most significant, accounting for nearly 30 percent of total exports. These include research and development (R&D), professional and management consulting services, and technical, trade-related and other business services. In addition, a lot of intellectual property was used abroad, so that exports of this category made up a quarter of total exports of services. A third major type of service is transport services, with more than 16 percent of the total. Of these three groups of services, the use of intellectual property grew the fastest, by almost 23 percent compared to the previous year. Business services grew by 11 percent and transport services by 4 percent compared to 2018.
4.6Exports of services by sector
The sector that had the highest exports of services in 2018 was the consultancy, research and other business services sector, with nearly 36 billion euros of services exports, or 17 percent of the total. The sector includes architects’ and engineering firms, and marketing and advertising agencies. Non-financial holding enterprises also fall within this sector. These enterprises export scientific and other technical services, and R&D and licences, to enterprises within the same group that are located abroad. They therefore represent a substantial proportion of exports of services (Smit & Balabay, 2018). Another major sector for exports of services is transport and storage. Enterprises in this sector exported nearly 30 billion euros worth of services, such as goods and passenger transport by land (freight and rail traffic), water (inland shipping and sea and coastal shipping), and air. In addition, transport-related services such as storage were also exported in this sector. Altogether, the sector represented around 14 percent of total exports of services (Figure 4.6.1).
Other important sectors for exports of services in 2018 were information and communication (12 percent), leasing of movable tangible property (9 percent), and wholesale and retail trade (6 percent). A further 28 percent of the total export value of services cannot be allocated to an industry due to the lack of information about the exporting enterprise.
| Bedrijfstak | Service exports |
|---|---|
| Consultancy and research | 35.7 |
| Transportation and storage | 29.5 |
| Information and communication | 25.7 |
| Rental of movable property | 18.1 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 13 |
| Manufacturing | 13.3 |
| Other | 15.3 |
4.7Goods imports by type of goods and sector
Total imports of goods into the Netherlands amounted to nearly 460 billion euros in 2019 (Figure 4.7.1).noot4 In the same year, services imported totalled 220 billion euros. A proportion of the imports are directly consumed in the Netherlands, but intermediate goods and services are also imported that are further processed here in the production process and subsequently consumed or re-exported.
| Jaar | Goods imports | Service imports |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 331.9 | . |
| 2011 | 364.9 | . |
| 2012 | 389.4 | . |
| 2013 | 386.4 | . |
| 2014 | 382.4 | 145.3 |
| 2015 | 372.2 | 192.4 |
| 2016 | 368.9 | 165.8 |
| 2017 | 408.9 | 191.7 |
| 2018 | 441.3 | 207.4 |
| 2019 | 459.9 | 220.0 |
Machinery and transport equipment account for one-third of total goods imports
As with exports, machinery and transport equipment are the goods that are imported the most, totalling 151 billion euros, which represents nearly 33 percent of total imports. This commodity group also saw the strongest growth over 2019, with an increase of
9 percent from 2018. Other major commodity groups among goods imports are mineral fuels (16 percent), manufactured goods (14 percent), and chemical products (13 percent). Mineral fuels were the only group of goods for which imports declined in 2019, by more than 6 percent from 2018.
| Jaar | Food and live animals | Beverages and tobacco | Raw materials | Mineral fuels | Animal and vegetable oils and fats |
Chemical products | Manufactured goods | Machinery and transport equipment | Miscellaneous manufactured articles | Goods not elsewhere specified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 38.0 | 3.9 | 13.7 | 64.2 | 4.0 | 48.8 | 37.3 | 113.0 | 48.3 | 0.9 |
| 2016 | 38.4 | 3.9 | 13.1 | 54.7 | 4.2 | 48.3 | 37.2 | 117.2 | 50.8 | 1.3 |
| 2017 | 40.9 | 4.0 | 14.8 | 66.8 | 5.1 | 52.3 | 40.5 | 128.5 | 54.8 | 1.2 |
| 2018 | 42.1 | 4.0 | 15.8 | 79.6 | 4.6 | 54.5 | 43.7 | 138.1 | 58.5 | 0.4 |
| 2019 | 43.8 | 4.2 | 15.9 | 74.4 | 4.6 | 58.8 | 44.1 | 150.5 | 63.3 | 0.3 |
If we look at the composition of goods imports since 2015 in Figure 4.7.2, we see that most groups of goods grow every year, with the exception of mineral fuels. Imports of mineral fuels fluctuate greatly over the years but always play an important role in goods imports, with a share of between 15 and 25 percent. These fluctuations may be due to the price of oil, which varies over the years.
Enterprises in manufacturing and wholesale and retail are largest importers
As with goods exports, there are two industries that play a major role in imports of goods to the Netherlands: manufacturing and the wholesale and retail trade. Of total goods imports of 460 billion euros, more than 174 billion are imported by wholesalers and retailers, and 105 billion by manufacturing. Approximately 120 billion euros in import value cannot be classified by industry due to the lack of information on the importing enterprises involved (Figure 4.7.3).
| Bedrijfstak | Import value |
|---|---|
| Wholesale and retail trade | 174.4 |
| Manufacturing | 105.4 |
| Other sectors | 60 |
Goods imports increased by 4 percent in 2019
As described above, a large proportion of imported goods are consumed directly, after reaching consumers mainly through the wholesale and retail sector. Much of what is imported by the manufacturing sector is used in its production process. Chapter 6 discusses this in more detail. Imports of goods rose by approximately 4 percent in 2019 compared to 2018. The 5 percent increase in imports by manufacturing was slightly higher than the rise of just under 4 percent in the wholesale and retail sector.
4.8Imports of services by type of service and sector
Imports of services into the Netherlands totalled some 220 billion euros in 2019. This was an increase of more than 6 percent from 2018 (Figure 4.8.1).
| Jaar | Export value |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 145 |
| 2015 | 192 |
| 2016 | 166 |
| 2017 | 192 |
| 2018 | 207 |
| 2019 | 220 |
Other business services represent one-third of imports of services
Business services is also the largest category of imports within imports of services, as it has been in recent years. Imports of such services have increased by 6 percent since 2018. In 2019, nearly 33 percent of total imports of services belonged to other business services. The next largest import category was the use of intellectual property, with a share of nearly 27 percent of the total in 2019. The use of intellectual property has increased by 8 percent since 2018. Other types of services with a large share of imports in 2019 were transport services, with 13 percent of total imports, travel (9 percent), and telecommunications, computer and information services (8 percent).
Services imported mainly by manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade
In 2018, Dutch enterprises imported services worth nearly 207 billion euros. Services were mainly imported by enterprises active in the wholesale and retail trade (13 percent), manufacturing (15 percent), and consultancy and research (14 percent). The wholesale trade acts as an intermediary between suppliers abroad and buyers in the Netherlands, and therefore imports many services. Manufacturing is on the one hand a very large industry that includes many enterprises that import specific services for their business operations, and on the other hand, this sector imports many services for its production processes. Examples are intellectual property and software licences.
4.9Annex: research account on the composition of growth in goods exports
This annex contains the research account belonging to Section 4.3 of this publication and the StatLine tables (Composition of the development of goods exports: export characteristics; Composition of the development of goods exports: exporter characteristic; Composition of the development of goods exports: exporter behaviour) on the composition of the development in goods exports, also included in the set of tables in this publication. The table on export characteristics is based on the International Trade in Goods statistics (IHG) without further data enrichment and, as such, it is in line with the existing StatLine table International Trade; Import and Export Value, SITC (3 digits), countries. The tables on the exporter’s characteristics and behaviour are based on the International Trade in Goods statistics linked to the General Business Register (ABR) and enriched with the Business Demographic Framework (BDK) and information on foreign participations from corporation tax returns. Based on these linked databases, the composition of the growth of goods exports was determined at the level of individual enterprises (business units).
The tables cover the years 2012 to end-2018, with growth in each case being compared to the previous year. Year-on-year changes in 2015 compared to 2014 are missing due to a method break (see CBS 2015a). The export value is defined as the value of goods supplied by residents to other countries according to the International Trade in Goods statistics. This is the value, including freight and insurance costs up to the Dutch border. Growth in exports is defined as the change in value in absolute terms compared to the previous year. The contribution of a given category to the total growth in exports is calculated by dividing the absolute value adjustment of a category by the total value adjustment of goods exports multiplied by the total year-on-year change in goods exports as a percentage.
A number of tables contain the category Unknown. This is because part of the trade in goods is carried out in the name of foreign parties without representation in the Netherlands. These parties are not registered in the General Business Register, which means that this part of the trade in goods cannot be assigned to individual enterprises and therefore cannot be distinguished by enterprise characteristics. In addition, enterprises that achieve a total export value below a set observation threshold (1.2 million euros since 2016) are not obliged to differentiate their exports by type of goods and country of destination, which makes it impossible to further differentiate these exports in a number of tables.
In these tables, growth in the export of goods is detailed according to:
- Export characteristic:
- Type of export flow, distinguishing between exports of products manufactured or substantially processed in the Netherlands (Dutch product) and products imported and then re-exported in a nearly unprocessed form (re-exports).
- Type of goods, with types of goods being shown at two levels, the first and second digits, according to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).
- Country of destination, in which the 50 most important destinations for Dutch goods exports (determined in reporting year 2018) are shown individually. The remaining destinations are shown together in a residual category.
- Exporter’s characteristic:
- Size of enterprise and where it is controlled, distinguishing between independent SMEs in three size categories (0–9, 10–49 and 50–249 employed persons) and large enterprises, including subsidiaries of foreign multinationals.
- Industry, where industries are shown at two levels, the first and second digits, defined according to the 2008 Standard Industrial Classification (SBI).
- Multinational status, distinguishing between non-multinationals, Dutch multinationals and foreign multinationals. In this context, a Dutch multinational is defined as an enterprise that is ultimately controlled in the Netherlands and that does have foreign subsidiaries. A foreign multinational is an enterprise that is ultimately controlled from abroad.
- The exporter’s level of development, distinguishing between first-time, restarting, semi-mature, outgoing, and mature exporters. The full categorisation also includes former exporters and non-exporters. However, by definition these categories do not appear in these tables and will therefore not be considered further. The level of development is determined on the basis of whether or not goods have been exported in the most recent four years, as shown in the table below. For a detailed explanation of this, we refer to the Internationalisation Monitor of Q2 2019, in particular Chapter 2 (Boutorat et al., 2019).
| Type | t-3 | t-2 | t-1 | t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| starting exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | exporter |
| re-starting exporter | non-exporter | exporter | non-exporter | exporter |
| re-starting exporter | exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | exporter |
| young exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | exporter | exporter |
| mature exporter | exporter | exporter | exporter | exporter |
| mature exporter | non-exporter | exporter | exporter | exporter |
| mature exporter | exporter | non-exporter | exporter | exporter |
| mature exporter | exporter | exporter | non-exporter | exporter |
| discontinuing exporter | exporter | exporter | exporter | non-exporter |
| discontinuing exporter | non-exporter | exporter | exporter | non-exporter |
| discontinuing exporter | exporter | non-exporter | exporter | non-exporter |
| discontinuing exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | exporter | non-exporter |
| former exporter | exporter | exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter |
| former exporter | non-exporter | exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter |
| former exporter | exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter |
| non-exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter | non-exporter |
- The exporter’s behaviour, i.e. the dynamics of the export portfolio, in which 10 groups
are distinguished:
- Change in export status
- Enterprises that start exporting: increase in exports of goods due to enterprises that did not report any exports last year and will do so this year.
- Enterprises that stop exporting: contraction in exports of goods due to enterprises that did report exports last year and will not do so this year.
- Dynamics in continued trade relations
- Growth in exports of existing products to existing destinations: increase in exports of goods due to enterprises that report higher exports of a specific product to a specific country this year than last year, but that did export that product to that country last year.
- Contraction in exports of existing products to existing destinations: decline in exports of goods due to enterprises that report lower exports of a specific product to a specific country this year than last year, but that is still exporting that product to that country this year.
- Dynamics in package of products and countries of destination
- New country of destination for existing product: increase in exports of goods due to enterprises that have started exporting a specific product to a new country of destination this year, and already exported the product concerned to other countries of destination last year.
- New product for existing country of destination: increase in exports of goods due to enterprises that have started exporting a new product this year to a destination country to which the enterprise already exported other products last year.
- New product-destination combination: increase in exports of goods due to enterprises that have started exporting a new product to a new country of destination this year, i.e. the enterprise did not export this specific product last year and did not export any other products to the relevant country of destination last year.
- Withdrawal from country of destination for all exported products: contraction in exports of goods due to enterprises that have stopped exports to a specific country of destination for all products this year, but are still active as exporters to other countries of destination.
- Exports stopped to all destination countries: contraction in exports of goods due to enterprises that have stopped exporting a specific product to all countries of destination this year, but are still active as exporters of other products.
- Withdrawal from specific product-destination combination: contraction in exports of goods due to enterprises that have withdrawn from exporting a specific product to a specific country of destination this year, but that are continuing to report exports of the same product to other countries of destination and of other products to the same country of destination.
- Change in export status
In this subsidiary table, a product is defined as a type of goods identified by the fourth digit of the SITC.
4.10References
References
Van den Berg, M., Alberda, A., Boutorat, A. & Luppes, M. (2018). Trends in carry-along trade door exporteurs in Nederland. CBS Internationaliseringsmonitor 2018, derde kwartaal: Exportstrategieën. Statistics Netherlands: The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
Van den Berg, M., Boutorat, A. & Alberda, A. (2019). Dissecting carry-along trade: what’s in the bundle? Discussion paper published by Statistics Netherlands: The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
Boutorat, A., Franssen, L., Mounir, A. & Van den Berg, M. (2019). Incidentele handelaren: wie zijn ze en wat onderscheidt ze? In: M. Jaarsma (Red.), Internationaliseringsmonitor 2019, tweede kwartaal: Patronen in handelsgedrag. Statistics Netherlands: The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS (2015a). De in- en uitvoercijfers van het CBS. Statistics Netherlands: The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS (2015b). Oorzaken methodebreuk internationale goederenhandel, 2014–2015. Statistics Netherlands: The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
Smit, R. & Balabay, O. (2018). Diensten. Wie, wat, hoe en waar. Statistics Netherlands: The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
Noten
The figures presented in this chapter are based on the International Trade in Goods statistics and the International Trade in Services statistics. These figures differ from those in Chapter 2, which uses figures from the National Accounts. In the National Accounts, the figures from International Trade are checked for completeness and conceptual differences in order to comply with the international requirements for National Accounts; furthermore, integration into the National Accounts results in additional differences. This means that the figures in this chapter cannot be compared with those in Chapter 2. For more information on these differences, see ‘CBS import and export statistics’ (CBS, 2015a).
Between 2014 and 2015, there was a method break in the statistics on the international trade in goods, which means that the figures for 2015 and beyond are not easily comparable. In the rest of the chapter, we therefore discuss the trade data from 2015 onwards. The table set does contain data from 2010 onwards. For more information on the method break, see ‘Oorzaken methodebreuk internationale goederenhandel, 2014-2015’ (only available in Dutch), CBS (2015b).
Elsewhere in this publication, e.g. in Chapters 2 and 6, it is stated that re-exports account for just over half of goods exports. The figures presented in this chapter are based on the International Trade in Goods source statistics. The figures in Chapters 2 and 6 are from the National Accounts. The source statistics use different concepts from National Accounts; for example, source statistics are based on cross-border trade in goods, while economic ownership is leading for National Accounts. Integration into the National Accounts results in additional differences. This means that the figures in this chapter cannot be compared directly with those in Chapters 2 and 6. For more information on these differences, see ‘CBS import and export statistics’ (CBS, 2015a).
Between 2014 and 2015, there was a method break in the statistics on the international trade in goods, which means that the figures before 2015 and those beyond are not easily comparable. In the rest of the chapter, we therefore discuss the trade data from 2015 onwards. The table set does contain data from 2010 onwards. For more information on the method break, see ‘Oorzaken methodebreuk internationale goederenhandel, 2014–2015’ (only available in Dutch), CBS (2015b).