Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Dutch context
Introduction
Here we dive deeper into the developments in the SDGs described in chapter 1 by grouping the SDG indicators for each dashboard into four categories:
- resources that are used and the resulting opportunities,
- the use of those opportunities,
- the outcomes of the use, and
- the subjective assessment of them on the part of citizens.
This classification is based on theoretical literature, in particular the combination of concepts from policy development and policy evaluation with the pillars of the CES measurement system. As noted earlier, some indicators may give rise to a debate about their effects on well-being, especially in the case of resources and opportunities. However, this can only be determined in the policy debate. The selection of indicators by type is not based on a causal model of the theme in question. The selection only provides a balanced (and concise) overview of the basic information on a theme.
The figure below provides an overview of the trends in all indicators measured for each SDG by type of indicator. It is an in-depth version of the figure in the Summary at the start of this publication. The colours have the same meaning: green indicates a trend moving towards the goal, red a trend moving away from the goal. A few examples:
- A relatively large number of trends in SDG 2 are green and this is mainly due to the indicators of use. The indicators for resources and opportunities are red, however. This could be investigated to identify a possible imbalance.
- For SDG 9 dashboard 1 (Infrastructure and mobility) it is notable that the picture is mixed. Nearly all types of indicators have red, green or neutral trends.
- For SDG 15 (Life on land) it is notable that the trends under resources and opportunities and the outcomes are mostly downward. For use, there is an indicator showing an upward trend (green).
- For SDG 16 dashboard 2 (Institutions), resources and opportunities, use and outcomes are mostly red to neutral, whereas subjective assessment shows a green trend.
SDG 1 No poverty
SDG 1 No povertySDG 1 is aimed at reducing all forms of poverty, both the financial aspects and the impact of poverty on life. The SDG agenda calls for attention to be focused particularly on social security, equal economic rights and resilience of poor and vulnerable groups. Since poverty in the Netherlands is of a different order than in the world’s poorest countries, indicators have been added for the Dutch context. The policy in the Netherlands focuses on preventing and combating poverty and problematic debt, with particular attention devoted to children living in poverty.noot1 The coronavirus crisis has made the poverty problem all the more relevant.
The dashboard shows income developments in the Netherlands, how high the risk is of income poverty or social exclusion and to what extent people are concerned about their financial situation. For people’s material well-being the standardised disposable income is used. This income is the basis for their expenditure, savings, dissaving or investment. In households with low disposable income and little wealth there is an increased risk of poverty. If people in such households have not only low incomes but also serious financial limitations or little or no work, they are also at risk of social exclusion. In addition to disposable income, the dashboard looks at how secure people perceive their livelihood to be.
For some indicators the unit is adjusted annually, monetary amounts in the Monitor of Well-being & the SDGs 2022 are expressed in constant prices with base year 2020.
The development of well-being based on trends in this dashboard is positive. All indicators point to rising or stable well-being. However, few figures are yet available for 2021, because income data are largely based on tax returns. The effects of the coronavirus crisis on income, wealth and debt will therefore only become visible over the longer term. In the case of SDG 1 the positions within the EU point in the same direction: nearly all internationally comparable indicators put the Netherlands among the leaders in Europe.
Resources and opportunities
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the financial means people have at their disposal and any support available. Here the picture is positive, with three rising trends over the 2014–2021 period and high positions compared to other EU countries.
In 2020, the average standardised disposable income rose further, to €32,400. The median disposable income also rose, but turned out lower (€28,600) than the average because the very high incomes pull the average up. For both indicators the Netherlands occupies a high position in the European ranking.
There was no appreciable change in the median (year-on-year) change in purchasing power. The 2.2 percent growth in 2020 was nonetheless the strongest since 2016. Employees in particular moved ahead: many of their collective wage agreements had already been completed before the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis and were in force during the pandemic. Government support and other measures also contributed to the favourable trend in purchasing power. No figures are yet available on the median purchasing power for 2021, but there are preliminary figures on households’ real disposable income in 2021 and these point to an increase of 2.6 percent.
The long-term trend in both income and wealth is upward. The steadily rising house prices are an important driver of this trend. The median wealth of Dutch households trended higher, reaching €64,600 on 1 January 2020. In other words, half of households have accumulated less than this amount of wealth, and the other half more.
Use concerns the use of various forms of financial support. For this category, no indicators are available that comply with the quality criteria of this report.
Outcomes here relate to the share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Only one trend shows a significant change. Where the Netherlands can be compared internationally, its position is generally high. The number of homeless people per 10,000 inhabitants in the same age category (18–64) has not increased recently. The rising trend seen in the period 2013–2020 has not continued. Safe and affordable independent living space is seen as a basic need. In January 2021 for every 10,000 residents aged 18 to 64, 30 were living on the street, in accessible shelters or temporarily with family or friends. Men in particular are at risk of becoming homeless. Homeless people aged 65 or over are not included because they are not included in the sources that CBS uses.
Just over 900,000 people were living in a household below the low-income threshold in 2020. Around 376,000 households had already had low income for at least four years in succession (3.1 percent). Despite the coronavirus crisis and the economic contraction, relatively fewer households had to manage with low income for a prolonged period in 2020 than in 2019, possibly due to government support packages. In 2020, 221,000 minors in the Netherlands were living in low-income households, the lowest number in 25 years. That is equivalent to 6.9 percent of all children, an average of two per school class. The families of over 95,000 (3.1 percent) children had had to manage on a low income for four years or more.
According to Eurostat, 16.1 percent of the Dutch population were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2020, 0.4 percentage points fewer than in 2019. With this percentage, the Netherlands compares favourably with other countries in the EU. Relative poverty, the share of the population with income below the European poverty threshold, rose by 0.2 percentage points to 13.4 percent between 2019 and 2020. This puts the Netherlands in seventh place in the EU27 in 2020, still just in the top group. The poverty gap – how far the median income is below the European poverty threshold – was slightly higher (17.6 percent) in 2020 than in 2019 (17.1 percent). Here the Netherlands occupies a middle position in the EU, in eighth place. A substantial proportion of households (7.9 percent) had to contend with recorded problematic debt in 2020. The trend is stable.
Subjective assessment refers to how people perceive the security of their livelihood. The percentage of people who say they are very concerned about their financial future was 22.5 in 2021. Although the share has declined, it remains substantial.
SDG 2 Zero hunger
SDG 2 Zero hungerSDG 2 aims to end hunger, guarantee food security and promote better nutrition and sustainable farming. Since malnutrition and food insecurity are uncommon in the Netherlands, this dashboard looks more at how we produce food, how sustainably do we do so and what impact this has on the living environment. The dashboard also covers an aspect that belongs officially in SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production), namely food waste.
Dutch policy covers all the targets of SDG 2 and was drawn up primarily by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. It also touches on health policy (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport), innovation policy (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy) and fisheries policy (Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management).noot2 The main focus is on food policy and circular agriculture. According to the National Agricultural Soils Programme (NPL), by 2030 all Dutch agricultural land is to be managed sustainably, so that the soil can function optimally and the quality is and remains optimal for future generations. This is also important for SDG 15 (Life on land).noot3
Trends in the Netherlands present a predominantly positive picture, with the exception of resources and opportunities, where both trends are red. With regard to the position in the EU, the picture is less favourable; the Netherlands is often among the laggards.
The Netherlands appears to be lagging particularly with regard to sustainable forms of production. Farmers use relatively little agricultural land for organic farming and the cultivation of high-protein crops, for example. We also have more farm animals per hectare of farmland than all other EU countries. Two trends have turned in a positive direction for SDG 2: in the case of livestock density and grazing for dairy cattle the neutral trends have turned green. For production processes in agriculture, by contrast, the trend has changed from neutral to red.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Resources and opportunities concern the land area and labour that are available for food production. Both indicators show a declining, red, trend. The acreage of arable land amounted to just under 43.6 percent of the total surface area (land and water) of the Netherlands in 2021. The production value of agriculture is also declining, although at €169 million (2010 prices) per thousand labour years the Netherlands ranks second in the EU behind Denmark. The Netherlands is a major exporter of agricultural products: in 2021 the value of agricultural exports exceeded €100 billion for the first time. The Dutch economy is estimated to earn €46 billion from exports of these products, with horticulture and meat products yielding the most.
Use concerns how – and how sustainably – food is produced. All six trends here are favourable, but the Netherlands sometimes occupies very low positions internationally. The acreages devoted to organic farming and high-protein crops grew further, to 4.0 percent and 0.5 percent of the total acreage of agricultural land in 2020 and 2021. As a result of organic farming and the cultivation of crops such as legumes and soy beans, more animal-friendly, environmentally friendly and meat-replacement food is becoming available. The acreage is nevertheless modest compared to other EU countries. The latest comparable European figures on livestock density date from 2016, a year in which the Netherlands had the highest livestock density in Europe. Although this leads to higher food production, it is primarily viewed negatively in the context of sustainable production and well-being (animal welfare and pressure on the environment). In 2020 74 percent of dairy cows were put out to pasture, 5 percentage points more than in 2015 and 2016. The trend has changed from neutral to rising. Farms with dairy cattle account for almost half of all agricultural land in use in the Netherlands.
Farmers appear to be using less chemical pesticides per million euros of agricultural production volume. Sales are on a downward trend, although in 2020 they still amounted to almost 369 kilograms per million euros of agriculture production volume. From the EU perspective that is low and the Netherlands is therefore outperforming many other EU countries. As a result of the large-scale agricultural production in the Netherlands, the use of pesticides does nevertheless cause environmental damage. Relative to the agricultural acreage used, the Netherlands performs worse in the use of pesticides per euro earned.
After a peak in 2007, the use of antibiotics in Dutch livestock farming has fallen sharply. Here too the trend is green. The large-scale (or careless) application of antibiotics can lead to resistant bacteria, with consequences for both animal and human health. The intended 70 percent reduction in 2020 compared to 2009 has now been achieved. The government and livestock farmers have followed up by jointly setting sector-specific reduction targets for 2024.
Outcomes describe food affordability and the impact of food production on the living environment and animal welfare. The effects on the local environment and water quality are related to nitrogen and phosphorus uptake rates, among other things. The crop uptake of nitrogen amounted to just over 59 percent of total nitrogen input from mineral fertilisers in 2021. This means that over 40 percent more fertiliser is applied than agricultural crops need. The part that is not absorbed and evaporates or remains in the soil, after which it is washed out into groundwater and surface water. The phosphorus uptake was substantially higher than for nitrogen, at almost 85 percent. A balance is in prospect here. Usage figures are not available for almost half of EU countries, but for those for which comparisons can be made, the Netherlands lags behind in the use of both phosphorus and nitrogen.
Consumers are increasingly buying sustainable food products. Both the market share of organic food (3 percent in 2020) and the share of meat with a sustainability label (34 percent of meat sold in 2020) show a rising trend, according to the Sustainable Nutrition monitor from WUR. Spending on organic food in supermarkets, specialist sustainable food businesses and catering outlets was nevertheless slightly lower in 2020 than a year before.
The SDG agenda includes the aim of halving food waste in 2030 compared to 2015. The latest figures for the Netherlands (2018) are from the Food Waste monitor, also published by WUR, and show estimated food waste to be between 96 and 149 kilograms per person. On the basis of waste and feed statistics, the amount of food waste does not appear to be decreasing. There is no significant rise or fall in the trend.
Subjective assessment relates to how satisfied people are with food quality and supply, and with the living environment and animal welfare. For this category, no indicators are currently available that comply with the quality criteria of this report.
SDG 3 Good health and well-being
SDG 3 Good health and well-beingSDG 3 aims to give everyone an opportunity to live as healthy a life as possible, by treating diseases and mental illnesses and presenting premature death. The aim is also that research and vaccinations will put an end to epidemics of known infectious diseases by 2030. Other focal points are addiction prevention and care, road traffic deaths and birth control.
The National Prevention Agreement includes measures relating to smoking, obesity and problem alcohol consumption. In the prevention and treatment of addiction, the Netherlands focuses on preventing use (and combating the crime that is often associated with it). For more information concerning policy deployment, see the report on five years of SDG policy implementation in the Netherlands.noot4
With regard to public health and health care, 2020 and 2021 were difficult years. The arrival of COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by a new coronavirus, led to a large number of hospital admissions and a lot of long-term intensive care. Regular care had to be deferred and scaled back. There was also heavy pressure on nursing and care homes, particularly at the start of the pandemic. Death certificates cite COVID-19 as a cause of 12 percent of deaths in 2020. In 2021 the figure was only slightly lower at 11 percent. Whether these people were already in poor health can be deduced from the use of care under the Long-term Care Act (Wet Langdurige Zorg – Wlz). Initial estimates put this figure at 46 percent of patients who died of coronavirus in 2021; in 2020 58 percent of those who died of COVID-19 were Wlz care users.
These recent developments were of course included in the outcomes, but the Monitor of Well-being & the SDGs, and hence also the SDG 3 dashboard, focus mainly on the medium term, the period from 2014 to 2021. Of the indicators that show a clear trend, three are moving towards the goals and one is moving away from them. If we look at the position in the EU, we see that the Netherlands has a high and therefore favourable position for seven indicators. Only one indicator, vaccination coverage for measles, shows a lagging position.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities relate to the resources used to maintain and improve the health care system. Spending on health care as a percentage of GDP peaked in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis. In both cure and care, significantly more hours were worked per capita in 2021 (104.9) than in 2020 (102.0). In the context of SDG 3 this rising trend is seen as increasing well-being for individuals who receive the care. The Netherlands thus occupies a high position in the ranking within the EU27.
Use concerns behaviour that affects health and the use people make of the health care services. Obesity, alcohol consumption and smoking are three important lifestyle indications. In 2014, the start of the trend period, for the first time more than half of the population aged 20 and over (50.3 percent) had a BMI of 25 or more and were therefore considered to be overweight.noot5 The share in 2021 was 50.8 percent. The trend has changed from rising to neutral. The position regarding the overweight population is therefore better than in other countries. The Netherlands ranked fifth in the EU in 2019. The position in terms of relatively low alcohol consumption (fourth out of 21 EU countries in 2019) is also relatively favourable. The percentage of smokers continues to fall, amounting to 19.4 percent of the population aged 12 and over in 2021, compared to 24.2 percent at the start of the trend period.
An indicator for the use of healthcare is the measles vaccination rate. Here the trend has changed from downward to neutral. The WHO standard of 95 percent, the level deemed necessary to eradicate measles, is not being achieved in the Netherlands, however. Of the children born in 2018, 93.6 percent had been vaccinated – at the age of two – in 2020. Vaccination coverage is low compared to other EU countries (15th out of 22 countries in 2018). Figures on vaccinations of children born in 2019 – who turned two in 2021 – are not yet available. Although the national vaccination programme has continued over the last two years, the RIVM expects a slight decrease in vaccination of babies born during the pandemic.
Outcomes refer to the physical and mental health of the population in relation to the quality of healthcare. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the Netherlands and is also responsible for a substantial disease burden. In 2020, 4.7 percent of the Dutch population were taking diabetes medication. The medium-term trend is not rising or falling significantly. The average hospital stay for inpatients is shorter in the Netherlands than in all other EU countries. At 5.3 days in 2020, the average length of stay in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic was slightly longer than in 2019 (5.2 days). It was not possible to calculate a trend for the indicator of waiting times for outpatient care, because the figures come from a different source (the Dutch Healthcare Authority) than previous figures. In 2020 the waiting times between the first appointment and the start of treatment exceeded the ‘Treek’ limit of four weeks (set as acceptable by the government) in 34.5 percent of cases. It is likely that regular care deferred as a result of coronavirus drove up the waiting times and that pressure of work affected the reporting.
Compared to 2019, the final year before the coronavirus pandemic, life expectancy for men in 2021 was nine months shorter and for women seven months shorter. After earlier periods of high mortality, such as the Spanish flu pandemic and the Second World War, life expectancy recovered fairly rapidly. Despite the declines in 2020 and 2021, the coronavirus pandemic is not ultimately expected to have an adverse effect on the rising trend in life expectancy that has been taking place for many years.noot6 It is not only important how long people live, but also how long they remain in good health. Healthy life expectancy combines mortality rates and ill health. It can be applied in several ways; here we use life expectancy (at birth) in health that is perceived as good or very good.
Although mortality was higher in 2020 and 2021, people rated their own health relatively favourably – particularly in 2020. This combination resulted in healthy life expectancy of 65.4 years for men and 65.1 years for women in 2021, slightly lower than in 2020. Men and women in the Netherlands occupy a middle position in Europe. The figures for the international comparison use a slightly different definition of healthy life expectancy than those for the trend in the Netherlands: the international comparison concerns life expectancy without limitations.
In 2021, 4.3 percent of the population aged 16 and over faced serious limitations in their daily functioning as a result of long-term health problems. These are limitations that have lasted six months or longer. The share is decreasing and is modest compared with other EU countries. A considerable share of people who had COVID appear to retain symptoms for a long time afterwards. Whether these long-COVID or post-COVID symptoms will lead to an increase in the group of people with serious limitations in the future is not easy to say at present.
In its most extreme form, the mental health of the population is measured in terms of the trend in the number of suicides. Here the declining (green) trend has turned into a neutral trend. The number of suicide deaths is stable at around 10.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2020, 1,229 men and 596 women ended their own lives, an average of five per day. A second indicator of mental health is the share of the ‘mentally healthy population’. This is based on five questions from the Mental Health Inventory concerning how people felt in the previous four weeks. The figure for 2021, the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, shows a notable deterioration (–3.2 percentage points): 84.9 percent of the population aged 12 and over recorded an MHI-5 score of 60 or more. This group is considered to be in good mental health. The already declining trend in this indicator is continuing at an accelerated pace. The Netherlands is in the middle group in the EU (in 2017).
Subjective assessment concerns people’s satisfaction with both their own health and the Dutch healthcare system. The share of the population perceiving their health as good or very good rose from 78.7 percent in 2019 to 81.5 percent in 2020. In 2021 it was slightly lower (80.5 percent), but still higher than before the coronavirus pandemic. There is no significant rise or fall in the trend. The Netherlands occupies a relatively high position within Europe for this indicator.
SDG 4 Quality education
SDG 4 Quality educationThe goal of SDG 4 is for everyone to have access to good education. Appropriate and accessible education is important for all age groups and in all stages of life, from nursery school and primary education through to vocational and higher education, followed by ‘lifelong development’. The skills of pupils and students and the population as a whole are largely determined by the quality of education received. Education also means that the population now and in the future has access to good skills in order to perform in a knowledge-intensive environment and to play a full role in society.
Policy in the Netherlands focuses on guaranteeing and improving the quality of education and creating opportunities for young people through education, training or work. Measures have also been taken in the field of ‘lifelong development’ (previously also known as ‘life-long learning’). The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is responsible for most policy in the field of SDG 4, but the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport have also drawn up policy proposals.noot7
The trends in the dashboard mostly point to a stable or rising trend in well-being. Where sufficient data points are available to determine trends for 2014–2021, they are favourable for four indicators and unfavourable for one. In the EU rankings, the Netherlands is among the leaders for seven indicators. There have been three trend changes: two improvements and one deterioration from the perspective of the SDG agenda.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities relate to the range and affordability of education. In the case of government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (5.3 percent in 2020) there was a positive trend change: from downward to neutral. This is positive for the well-being of people receiving education, and in this regard the Netherlands occupies a middle position within the EU. Also favourable from the perspective of well-being and the achievement of the SDGs is the rising trend in hours worked in education: to almost 44 hours per capita in 2021. Here too the Netherlands occupies a middle position in the EU.
Use refers to participation in education. In 2019, 97.2 percent of children from the age of four to the age when education becomes compulsory were in education (pre-primary education). This percentage is high and the previously downward trend is now stable; the Netherlands occupies seventh position in the EU27. The Netherlands is also in the leading group in the EU in preventing children leaving education early, and the trend is favourable (downward). In 2020, 7.0 percent of people aged 18 to 24 years left education early, i.e. without a basic qualification (at least senior general secondary education (HAVO), pre-university education (VWO) or intermediate vocational education level 2). This concerns the total group of early school-leavers aged 18 to 24 and participation in both government-funded and privately funded education. With regard to participation in ‘lifelong development’, a change can be seen from a rising to a neutral trend. The coronavirus measures may have limited the potential for people to continue developing. Here too the Netherlands occupies a high position within the EU.
Outcomes concern educational attainment levels and levels of specific skills. 35.5 percent of the population aged between 15 and 74 were highly educated in 2021, and the trend is rising. This may lead to tension on the labour market if vacancies requiring professional or trade qualification are difficult to fill. The other side of this coin is the declining share of medium-skilled people, the only indicator showing a red trend. The Netherlands occupies a middle position in Europe in terms of its educational level. It should be noted here, however, that although all EU countries report on the education level according to the same international classification (ISCED), education systems differ greatly between countries. Differences in policy and organisation must be taken into account when interpreting the results.
It is difficult to gain a clear picture of the skills of students and of the population in general. For example, because different tests are taken, it was difficult for a long time to gain a view of the language and mathematics skills of students in group 8 (the last year of primary education). The Education Inspectorate therefore published a baseline measurement for the 2018/2019 academic year in order to assess among whether pupils were sufficiently proficient in reading and mathematics at the end of their primary education. It was the first time it included the results of all five final tests. As a result of the coronavirus crisis, however, no final test was taken in 2020. Schools were regularly closed during the coronavirus pandemic and home schooling was the norm. It is difficult to gauge the impact of the loss of physical education on learning outcomes. The baseline measurement has therefore not yet been followed up. In order to determine the international position for reading and mathematical skills, the monitor uses the three-yearly PISA survey of 15‑year-olds in the OECD countries. The mathematical skills of 15‑year-olds are strong compared to pupils in other EU countries.
It is also difficult to gain a view of the skills of the adult population. In order to assess these, the OECD conducts the PIAAC survey every 10 years. A new round started in 2018 and the results are expected in 2023 at the earliest. The PIAAC indicator is shown in the dashboard, but it is therefore not recent (2012). At the time of the last measurement, the Dutch scores for adults’ language and mathematical skills were fairly high, with the country ranking second and third among 16 EU countries. Lastly, digital skills are essential in a knowledge-intensive economy; on this point the Netherlands was at the top of the European rankings in 2019.
Subjective assessment refers to how people experience education and their education opportunities. Satisfaction with education opportunities has never been as high as in 2021. Almost 85 percent of the adult population were satisfied and the trend is rising. The current labour market tension may also be a factor here, and employers are providing extra training facilities for their employees.
SDG 5 Gender equality
SDG 5 Gender equalitySDG 5 is aimed at equal treatment of and an equal position in society for men and women. This is to be achieved by ending the disadvantages suffered by women and girls in particular across a wide range of areas, including coercion and violence, employment and healthcare, and influence in public life.
Dutch policy largely covers SDG 5. The most important policy input takes the form of the Emancipation Memorandum to tackle domestic violence and measures aimed at a more equal division of care responsibilities. Most policy proposals and measures relating to SDG 5 are drawn up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Policy with regard to inclusion and non-discrimination also covers certain aspects of SDG 10.noot8
The Emancipation monitor of CBS and the SCP contains the results of the biennial survey of the emancipation of women in the Netherlands.
For most indicators in this dashboard the trend is green: eight of the 13 indicators are evolving towards an increase in well-being and the attainment of the SDG targets. The picture with regard to the Netherlands’ international position is more mixed, however. In the case of three indicators it is among the top three, while for two indicators it is among the laggards.
In the 2021 reporting year CBS began using a new measurement method for the labour force, so as to obtain a clearer picture of the unemployed and those in work. According to the new method both groups have increased. It was not possible to adjust all the breakdowns of the labour force, including those by sex, in line with this new method. The trend calculation for some indicators in the SDG 5 dashboard is therefore still based on the unrevised series up to and including 2020. The figure for 2021 cannot be compared to the existing series, but it is included in the text. As soon as three reporting years are available under the new method, so that a trend can be calculated, the switch will also be made here to the revised series.
Use
Outcomes
Resources and opportunities concern the rights and freedoms of men and women and the opportunities they have to take advantage of them. For this category, no indicators are currently available that comply with the quality criteria of this report.
Use relates to the extent to which women and men participate in society and the economy. Given that women are disadvantaged in higher education around the world, the SDG agenda is based on the principle that the higher the share of women, the better the situation is. In the 2021/2022 academic year, women made up the majority of students in Dutch higher education, at 52.9 percent, and the trend is rising. In most other European countries the percentage of female students is even higher than in the Netherlands. In this regard women are not lagging behind. If there is a group that is lagging behind in the EU, it is men. For both men and women, net labour participation (the proportion of employed people aged 15 to 74) shows a rising trend. The labour participation rate did nevertheless fall during the COVID year 2020 compared to 2019. In 2021, the participation rate for men (74.3 percent) was still around 7.8 percentage points higher than that of women (66.5 percent). The difference nevertheless narrowed over the 2014–2021 period. With these high percentages the Netherlands occupied a leading position in the EU in 2020.
Outcomes refer to the effects of participation and working time on gender equality. The indicators with regard to the education level and economic independence show a favourable trend from the perspective of well-being. The trends are green. Relatively more men than women are economically independent, but the percentage of women who earn at least the level of income support and are therefore economically independent has grown faster than that of men since the start of the trend period (2014). In contrast to participation in the labour market, this concerns men and women aged between 15 and the state pension age, excluding school pupils and students. The catch-up has narrowed the difference in economic independence from over 20 percentage points in 2014 to less than 16 percentage points in 2020.
The gender gap in gross hourly pay is also gradually narrowing. The difference in hourly pay between men and women decreased by 2.9 percentage points to 13.2 percent between 2014 and 2021, with the Netherlands occupying a middle position within the EU. Women’s lower hourly wages are partly due to other differences from their male colleagues in terms of age, part-time working, occupational level and whether or not they occupy management positions. The wage difference in the Netherlands has decreased over the years partly because female employees are increasingly highly educated.
The highly educated percentage is rising among both men and women. For women the share is almost the same as that of men. Internationally, Dutch women are nevertheless positioned in the middle group: in the other EU countries the percentage of highly educated women is even higher. In terms of the share of highly educated men the Netherlands is in the top group in Europe.
In the case of women in management positions the trend has changed from upward (green) to neutral. Compared with other EU countries the share of women occupying these positions is low, as evidenced by the 25th place in 2020. Due to the possible break in the time series as a result of the new measurement method used for the labour force, the trend is based on the old measurement. Under the new measurement method, women occupied 25.4 percent of the positions in senior and middle management in 2021.
The proportion of female members of parliament is decreasing. The trend is red. On 1 February 2021, the key date of the survey, one-third of the House of Representatives members were female. This led to a middle position in the EU. After the elections on 17 March 2021, 59 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives were held by women.
Healthy life expectancy, i.e. life expectancy in health that is perceived as good or very good, is broadly similar for women (65.1 years) and men (65.4 years). A health paradox is at play here, as total life expectancy of women is higher than that of men. That is good for women, but it does mean they spend a slightly larger part of their life in poorer health. Compared with women in other EU countries, women in the Netherlands are in the middle group. The figures for the international comparison use a slightly different definition than the figures for the trend used in the Netherlands: the international comparison concerns life expectancy without limitations.
One of the focal points of this SDG’s aim of a safe society for all citizens is less intimidation and violence against women. Physical and/or sexual abuse by a partner or former partner is one aspect of this. In 2019 1.3 in every thousand women aged 15 and over in the Netherlands reported having been a victim of physical or sexual abuse by their current or former partner. In 2014 the figure was still 2.2 per thousand women. The Safety monitor, from which this figure is taken, was completely redesigned in 2021. The survey of violence is now very different and the outcomes are therefore no longer comparable with those of previous editions. The dashboard does not therefore include the 2021 figure according to the updated survey (2.4 per thousand women) and the trend is still determined using the old series.
Subjective assessment relates to people’s experience of gender equality or inequality. For this category, no indicators are currently available that comply with the quality criteria of this report.
SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation
SDG 6 Clean water and sanitationAccess to drinking water and sanitation and sustainable water management are at the heart of SDG 6. Almost everyone in the Netherlands has access to safe drinking water and good sanitation. The dashboard does nevertheless include indicators on the affordability of drinking water. Demand for drinking water has risen during the recent dry and hot summers. The growing population and the demand for more homes, and hence more connections, also results in higher demand. Since there are few options for obtaining more water, drinking water companies are increasingly competing with the interests of nature, agriculture and climate action. As dry summers occur more frequently, the security of supply of drinking water may ultimately come under pressure. This dashboard focuses on water quality and the efficiency of water consumption. Less harmful discharges, recycling of water and lower water consumption should improve water quality and prevent water shortages. Discharges of pollutants, either directly or through the soil, affect the quality of inland waterways and groundwater. Water purification helps to counter the consequences of pollution and improves quality. Lastly, using water more efficiently reduces the pressure on fresh water sources in times of increasing economic activity.
The policy for SDG 6 is formulated mainly by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, but there are also contributions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The main focus is on integrated freshwater management to ensure the availability of water, and on combating water pollution.noot9
The trend in the Netherlands in the case of SDG 6 generally points to a rising or stable trend in well-being. There are three exceptions: the growing extraction of groundwater, the decline in animal species characteristic of fresh water and the deteriorating chemical water quality. In the case of this SDG a comparison with other EU countries is only possible for a few indicators, and these show that the Netherlands is usually in the middle group.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the means used to provide households with clean and affordable drinking water. Drinking water supply is very well regulated in the Netherlands. Water companies have succeeded in reducing their costs (from €1.24 per m3 in 2014 to €1.17 in 2020). In addition to this declining trend there is a stable trend in the average price for users of drinking water, which also includes charges for groundwater tax, distribution refunds, mains water tax and VAT. End-users paid an average of €1.61 per m3 in 2020, just as at the start of the trend period in 2014.
Use relates to the purification of waste water, the extraction of water from the environment and the efficiency of drinking water use (water productivity). The trends present a mixed picture. The purification efficiency for nitrogen and phosphorus in the treatment of urban waste water is high: in 2020, it was 85 percent and 88 percent respectively. These high percentages are a measure of the efficiency of water purification. In the case of phosphorus the percentage has increased even further, and in the case of nitrogen the previously rising trend has turned into a neutral trend, but there too there is room for some improvement.
Both households and businesses consume water. If we divide total fresh water extraction by the overall population, 409 m3 of fresh surface water was extracted per capita in 2020. In 2014, the beginning of the trend period, this volume was 502 m3. The previously declining trend has now turned into a neutral trend. Compared with other EU countries, the Netherlands extracts a considerable amount of fresh surface water, partly because so many companies use a large amount of cooling water. After discharge, this cooling water becomes available again for use. Groundwater is also extracted for economic activities and consumption by households. The amount of extracted groundwater per capita was much greater in 2018, 2019 and 2020 than in the previous years. Particularly the dry summer of 2018 led to a substantial increase in water consumption by agriculture and drinking water companies; the trend is rising (red). Water productivity – a benchmark for the efficiency of water consumption by businesses – improved substantially between 2014 and 2020, from €67 of value added per m3 (in 2015 prices) to €85. In terms of water productivity, the Netherlands occupies a position in the middle group in the EU.
Outcomes for this SDG refer to the quality of surface water and the sustainability of water consumption. The trends point to stable or even declining well-being. With regard to the level of water stress (how much water is extracted), the previously downward (green) trend has turned into a neutral trend. This concerns the ratio of extracted fresh water to the available renewable fresh water sources. Animal species that are typical of freshwater and marshland areas have shown a declining trend since 2014, after a long, steady rise. The reasons for this declining trend are varied and differ from one species to another. Water quality is clearly still far from being good enough everywhere for these specific animal species. Desiccation may also play a role.
The biological water quality (for algae, water plants, fish and macrofauna) and chemical water quality (based on 53 chemical substances or groups of substances) are assessed in this dashboard according to the system used in the European Water Framework Directive. CBS converts these data concerning the number of bodies of water to the percentage of surface water of good quality in the Dutch ecosystem accounts. Many small bodies of water in themselves comply with the standard, but in terms of surface area only a relatively small proportion of Dutch water is compliant. Nevertheless, many species of macrofauna and aquatic plants are found in the small brooks and ditches. By 2020, 3.6 percent of surface water was of good biological quality and 5.1 percent met chemical quality standards. The trend in chemical quality is downward; in 2015, the first year of measurement, it was still 10.4 percent.
The quality of inland bathing water is good, with almost three-quarters (72.7 percent) of inland waterways qualified as ‘excellent’ in 2021. Indirectly, this indicator is also relevant to the production of drinking water, since in the Netherlands surface water in particular is extracted alongside groundwater for use as drinking water.
Subjective assessment concerns satisfaction with drinking water. In 2019, customers of water companies gave their water a score of 8.7 out of 10, the highest ever recorded. However, this satisfaction is measured once every three years, so there are not enough data points in the 2014–2021 period to calculate a trend.
SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy
SDG 7 Affordable and clean energySDG 7 focuses on energy security, sustainability and energy efficiency, which have been key subjects of Dutch public and political debate in recent years and which have become very topical amid rising geopolitical tensions. The policy for SDG 7 is drawn up by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Energy policy is devised in the context of the Climate Agreement: the Integral National Energy and Climate Plan includes the policy for the 2021–2030 period (see also SDG 13). Policy goals have also been formulated and initiatives taken by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.noot10 A minister has now been appointed with specific responsibility for directing policy on climate and energy, and a Climate Fund has been established to increase the sustainability of the economy and society. Another highly relevant factor in the Netherlands is the increasing development of energy policy at European Union level.
Energy security in the Netherlands has always been high. As gas extraction in Groningen was phased out, however, the Netherlands became increasingly dependent on imported energy. Almost 70 percent of energy now comes from abroad, which makes the Netherlands vulnerable to geopolitical tensions. It can no longer be taken for granted that the Dutch government will remain on good terms with the key source countries (Russia, Middle East).
The indicators in SDG 7 are mainly aimed at renewable energy and energy efficiency. Combustion of fossil fuels for power stations, manufacturing, cars, homes and other buildings entails high levels of greenhouse gas emissions (see also SDG 13 Climate action). The development and use of technologies for energy conservation and renewable energy sources are important to reduce energy use and dependence on fossil fuels, including those that are imported. This will have a positive effect on current and future levels of well-being. In practice increasing sustainability in many cases means switching to electrical installations, for which electricity is required.
The trends in SDG 7 (2014–2021) point mostly to a movement towards the goals of the SDG agenda and rising or stable well-being. A favourable point from this perspective is the growth in investments in renewable energy and energy savings as a percentage of GDP. The increase in installed capacity for renewable electricity, rising use of renewable energy and declining energy intensity of the economy are good news in this context. There are nevertheless concerns about the security of supply of energy: the country’s own mineral reserves are declining and dependence on imports of energy have increased greatly. These trends are now red. Compared to the other EU countries, the Netherlands is in the middle group or low or very low in the ranking.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Resources and opportunities relate to the availability and affordability of energy and, with particular relevance to the Netherlands, investment in a sustainable energy supply. The trend in investment in renewable energy and energy savings is rising. In 2019, it amounted to 1.4 percent of GDP, compared to 1.0 percent at the beginning of the trend period in 2014. The sustainable energy sector accounted for 0.6 percent of total employment in 2020, almost the same share as in 2014.
The installed capacity for renewable electricity in the Netherlands rose from 231 megawatts per million inhabitants in 2014 to 1,256 megawatts in 2021. The increase is partly due to the expansion of onshore and offshore wind capacity, but the electrical capacity of installations for solar power generation also grew substantially. Ranking 11th out of 27 EU countries, the Netherlands occupied a middle position in the EU in 2020. This indicator refers to the installed capacity, not actual energy generation. Particularly in the case of solar energy, generated energy clearly lags behind the potential capacity.
In addition to green trends, there are also two red trends in the category of resources and opportunities. Since the current energy supply in the Netherlands is still largely based on fossil fuels, it is important that there are sufficient fossil energy reserves. The reserves considered to be extractable from an economic and social perspective declined further in 2021, so the trend is red. For the moment we need gas: almost all Dutch households are connected to gas, and the Netherlands has agreed to supply gas to German households. In view of the earthquake risks and to maintain the safety of inhabitants, gas extraction in Groningen must be phased out. That is less the case from the perspective of climate objectives, because – given the demand – Groningen gas has a relatively better carbon footprint than, for example, Russian gas or liquid gas from the United States. Since there is continued demand for gas but domestic reserves are falling, dependence on imports is increasing, making the Netherlands vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, particularly since there is little scope to replace Russian gas for Europe with gas from other countries. This indicator also points to vulnerability and has a red trend. In 2020, almost 70 percent of energy was already imported, whereas at the start of the trend period in 2014 only a third was imported. The Netherlands is in the middle group in the EU, ranking 19th out of 27 countries. In the EU as a whole, this vulnerability remains high: the gas market in the EU is closely interwoven and countries have agreements in place to assist each other in the event of shortages. Energy dependence of the EU as a whole is therefore a significant factor.
Household spending on energy as a percentage of total consumer spending is used as an indicator of the affordability of energy. This increased to 3.5 percent in 2021 due to the strong increase in energy prices. The trend is neutral. Energy prices rose substantially in the final months of 2021 and at the beginning of 2022 due to geopolitical tensions, leading to high inflation. Affordability of energy is therefore a major point of concern. Domestic Dutch gas stocks in the Groningen field can no longer be easily extracted, gas and oil stocks in Europe are relatively low and the potential for additional imports is minimal. The tightness in the European market is driving prices higher. In 2021 electricity was on average 22.2 percent more expensive than a year before (while in 2020 it was still 39.6 percent cheaper than in the previous year due to large cuts in energy tax). Gas was on average 16.7 percent more expensive, after a rise of 2.6 percent in 2020. For both electricity and gas the price rise can be attributed to the rise in variable supply tariffs. Petrol (16.2 percent) and diesel (18.5 percent) were also more expensive in 2021, following price falls in 2020.
Use concerns amounts of energy used and saved. The trend in total energy consumption has changed from downward to neutral. The Netherlands is in a low position compared to other EU countries. The production structure is a factor here. The Netherlands produces energy-intensive products such as base metal and basic chemicals, which are then processed further in other countries.
A positive factor is the declining trend in energy intensity, a measure of the energy efficiency of the economy, or how much energy is consumed in relation to its size. Here both a change in the production structure (shift from manufacturing to a service-based economy) and an improvement in energy efficiency (due to energy savings and insulation) are playing a role. In 2020, the Netherlands occupied an average position in the EU. With regard to this international comparison it should be noted that the composition of economic activity and energy use in the associated production processes may vary considerably from one country to the next.
Outcomes relate to the sustainability and wastage of energy. The trend in imports of fossil energy carriers has not risen or fallen significantly, but as a major importer of fossil fuels in 2020 the Netherlands is right at the bottom of the EU ranking, as many imports are characterised negatively from the perspective of sustainability. A large proportion of these imports are re-exported, however.
The proportion of renewable energy is growing steadily: from 5.4 percent at the beginning of the trend period in 2014 to 11.5 percent in 2020. The target of European and national policy for renewable energy is 14 percent in 2020. In order to meet the target, countries are permitted to apply an administrative transfer between themselves. The Netherlands has made use of this facility and in 2020 offset the difference between the actual 11.5 percent and the target 14 percent with Denmark, where the consumption of renewable energy exceeds the agreed target. Even after this set-off, however, the Netherlands is still among the lowest ranking regions in the EU, occupying 23rd place in 2020. Compared to other countries, such as Germany, the Dutch government was for many years reluctant to provide financial incentives for renewable energy. In addition, the Netherlands can only make limited use of hydropower and Dutch households use relatively little wood for heating.
Partly due to the energy transition, demand for electricity is expected to increase sharply in the future. An efficient power grid is essential for the functioning of society. The power outages indicator added to the dashboard gives an indication of the reliability of the security of supply of electricity. Overall, this is very high in the Netherlands: in 2020 households and business users had an average of 21 minutes without power as a result of outages. The trend is neutral.
Subjective assessment refers to satisfaction with the price and availability of energy. For this category, no indicators are currently available that comply with the quality criteria of this report.
SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth: economy and factors of production
SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth: economy and factors of productionThe objective of SDG 8 is twofold. The first dashboard of SDG 8 focuses on making economic growth more sustainable and efficient, with attention focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and the environment. The volume of GDP is a measure of the size of a country’s economy; it can be calculated on the basis of production, income or expenditure. An increase in GDP usually results in greater material well-being in the short term, with higher median disposable income and higher individual consumption. But there is a downside, as economic activities can be damaging to people’s welfare, the living environment and well-being over the long term. To produce goods and services, an economy needs input from capital, labour and raw materials. Are these deployed sustainably and productively? And how are profits and income distributed among citizens and businesses? Together, these factors determine the extent to which economic growth is efficient and sustainable. The second aspect of SDG 8, ensuring that everyone has decent work, is dealt with in a separate dashboard.
The Dutch policy for SDG 8 is mainly been drawn up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Policy measures and intentions have also been formulated by many other ministries.noot11 In 2019, the Growth Strategy was launched with a view to economic growth and increasing earning power. Another important policy intention is the government-wide Circular Economy 2050 programme, led by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, with contributions from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (circular agriculture) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (increasing the sustainability of Dutch basic industry).
In five of the 15 indicators in this dashboard, including GDP per capita (in constant 2015 prices), the medium-term trend (2014–2021) is rising and green. This development is associated with higher well-being and a movement towards the SDG goals. This dashboard shows no trend changes, and no indicators with a trend pointing to reduced well-being. The Dutch economy contracted sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus measures, but compared to other EU countries the damage remained within reasonable limits. In 2021 the economy recovered, and GDP per capita returned almost to the 2019 level. In an international comparison, the Netherlands achieves scores for six indicators that put it among the leaders in Europe, while just one indicator places it low in the ranking. The latter indicator, investments in tangible fixed assets, is important for future well-being.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the volumes of labour, capital and knowledge used to produce goods and services, and the possibility to subsequently buy or sell these goods and services for consumption or other purposes. The trends in this part of the dashboard are green: the number of hours worked, investments in tangible assets and median disposable income are rising. Internationally, the picture is mixed: in terms of hours worked per capita the Netherlands occupies a middle position and in terms of median disposable income the Netherlands is at the top of the ranking. The fact that Dutch investments in tangible fixed assets are lagging is a cause for concern, as it is an important indicator for future sustainable well-being.
Use concerns the productivity and sustainability of the use of factors of production, and consumption. A number of economic ratios can be used to measure this. Labour productivity (value added per hour worked), raw material productivity and individual consumption are relatively high compared with other EU countries. In the case of raw material productivity, the Netherlands occupies a leading position. The Netherlands is the most efficient of all EU countries in the consumption of raw materials, and efficiency is improving yet further in view of the rising trend.
Outcomes relate to the rate, efficiency and sustainability of economic growth. Following the 3.8 percent contraction of the total volume of GDP in the first COVID year, the Dutch economy recovered in 2021. The contraction of GDP per resident in 2020 was even higher: 4.3 percent. With a GDP rise of 4.8 percent (the first annual estimate is used for the monitor) in 2021, the decline in GDP was made up in full within one year, and with an increase of 4.2 percent, per capita GDP recovered almost to the pre-coronavirus level. The medium-term trend in per capita GDP continues to rise. Furthermore, the Netherlands occupies a high position in the European ranking. Almost one-third of GDP is generated by exports to other countries, and this share is not rising or falling significantly.
The labour income share (LIS) represents the share of remuneration from labour (of employees and the self-employed) of the total earned income and presents a picture of the allocation of profit and remuneration in the economy. A higher LIS is favourable for working people. According to the definition used by CBS, CPB and DNB, the LIS was 76.3 percent in 2021. The position stated here relative to other countries is only indicative; comparisons with other countries are difficult because there are many different definitions. The LIS of the Netherlands nevertheless appears to be relatively high (2017 figures). The raw materials footprint, lastly, amounted to 7.4 tonnes per capita in 2020. The trend is stable. CBS is currently working to improve the methods used to calculate this and other footprints.
Subjective assessment refers to the confidence of consumers and producers. Economic development plays a role here, but so does government policy: as a result of the coronavirus measures struggling businesses were helped, for example, with support packages during the pandemic. Consumer sentiment can fluctuate widely. Consumer confidence fell sharply in 2020, with the annual average amounting to –20. In the first half of 2021 there was a recovery, however, and in the summer optimists and pessimists almost balanced each other out. Sentiment then continued to deteriorate, so the annual average amounted to –14. Confidence among industrial producers also nosedived initially after the first coronavirus measures, but in the months after April 2020 the gloom gradually lifted. The annual figure for 2020 was –7.6. Sentiment in manufacturing was therefore much less gloomy than at the time of the credit crisis, for example. In 2021 businesses were predominantly positive, with the annual average amounting to 8.3. The third sentiment indicator, sentiment among all non-financial companies, also recovered in 2021 from the downturn in the previous year, to 8.6 compared to –13.5. Within the EU Dutch producers and consumers were in the middle group with these annual averages in 2021.
SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth: labour and leisure time
The objective of SDG 8 is twofold. The first dashboard of SDG 8 focuses on making economic growth more sustainable and efficient, with attention focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and the environment. The second aspect of this SDG is aimed at decent work and good working conditions for all, especially for vulnerable groups. Appropriate and meaningful work is important: people earn money from it, take part in society and gain greater self-esteem. For many people it is a challenge to find and retain work, and hence to earn enough to make ends meet. Good employment conditions, relevant and interesting work and a good work-life balance are also important. Leisure time is important in this regard, for example to relax, keep up social contacts and for personal development.
The Dutch policy for SDG 8 is made principally by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Contributions also come from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Justice and Security, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.noot12 In addition to the Growth Strategy, which addresses economic growth and increasing earning capacity, various measures are deployed to achieve decent work for all and to support people who are unable to take control of their own careers.
In consultation with experts inside and outside CBS, two indicators have been added to this dashboard. First, one on to what extent employees aged 15 to 74 can regularly make their own decisions on how to perform their work. The second new indicator provides a picture of employees with a flexible employment contract.
This dashboard presents a positive picture. Seven indicators show an improving trend in well-being over the medium term (2014–2021) and movement towards the SDG goals, with only one showing an unfavourable trend (mental fatigue due to work). Positions in the European ranking are also mostly high. It is only with regard to the relatively low number of hours worked and the high percentage of flex workers that the Netherlands is among the laggards of the EU.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern options for participating in the labour market and the number of jobs available. The medium-term trends (2014–2021) in this part of the dashboard are all positive. A high vacancy rate is good for jobseekers and at the end of 2021 there were 43 vacancies per thousand jobs, the highest level since 1997. As a result of the sustained growth in vacancies and a further decline in unemployment, tension on the labour market has nevertheless increased. At the beginning of 2022 CBS introduced a new measurement method for figures concerning the labour force. This provides a better picture of the unemployed and the working population. Unemployment fell to 4.2 percent of the labour force in 2021. Long-term unemployment is also less common: 1.0 percent of the labour force had been unemployed for one year or more in 2021. Unused labour potential amounted to 13.2 percent in 2021; these are people without paid employment, people in paid employment who have recently sought work and/or are available to start immediately, and people in paid employment who want to work more hours and are immediately available to do so. At the start of the trend period, in 2014, this group still made up 21.6 percent of the total labour potential of 15–74‑year-olds.
Although the unemployment rate fell in all EU countries in 2021, unemployment in the Netherlands remains relatively low. With the revised, higher labour force figures the Netherlands fell somewhat in the list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates, but is still in the leading group. Long-term unemployment is also relatively low, as there are a relatively large number of vacancies for jobseekers.
Use concerns the net labour participation rate. In 2021, 70.4 percent of all 15–74‑year-olds were in employment. That is more than in 2020, when net labour participation decreased for the first time (69.6 percent). Between March and May 2020, after the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, there was an exceptionally large fall in the number of employed persons and labour participation, but the rate recovered again later in the year. The Netherlands has the highest net labour participation rate in the EU, and the trend is rising (green). The average working week in 2020 was almost 27.3 hours per worker, which is low compared to other European countries. Material well-being could increase if people started to work more hours. There is nevertheless a positive (second-order) effect of this relatively low number of working hours: workers have enough time and energy for care tasks and other activities.
Outcomes relate to the proceeds of work, working conditions and occupational safety. Corrected for purchasing power, the average hourly wage is high in the Netherlands compared with other EU Member States. According to figures from CBS and TNO, 17.3 percent of employees suffered from mental fatigue due to work more than once a month in 2021. After peaking in 2018, the percentage fell slightly in 2019. In 2020 there was a relatively sharp fall, but in 2021 the share returned to the high level seen in 2018. The medium-term trend is upward and therefore red. A new indicator on the dashboard is the percentage of employees with a temporary employment contract or working a flexible number of hours per week. This group of employees has lower income security, which can be a factor when taking major decisions such as buying a home or having a child. In 2021, 33 percent of employees worked on this basis. A high share is seen as unfavourable for the well-being of the employees concerned and the Netherlands is therefore among the laggards in the EU. A degree of flexibility in the labour market is beneficial for businesses, but this second-order effect is not included in the perspective of this dashboard.
Subjective assessment relates to whether people are satisfied with their jobs, working conditions and leisure time, and whether they are worried about work and finances. With the increasing tension on the labour market there is a downward trend in the percentage of employees worried about retaining their job. The share of employees who feel that work and their private life are not in balance decreased to 7.6 percent in 2020. In 2021 the percentage rose substantially, to 9.1, but this group is still smaller than before the coronavirus outbreak (9.7 percent in 2019). It is not possible to say here to what extent the outcomes were influenced by working from home, less travel time, home schooling of children or cramped housing. There is not a single EU country where this group is as small as in the Netherlands. Employees’ satisfaction with work is high compared to other countries. Four out of every five employees are very content and the trend is rising. Satisfaction with leisure time is also high. The Dutch are also among the leaders in Europe here.
SDG 9.1 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: infrastructure and mobility
SDG 9.1 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: infrastructure and mobilityThis comprehensive SDG has three main components: infrastructure and mobility, industry and sustainable business, and knowledge and innovation. Here we discuss the first perspective: accessible infrastructure and mobility for all. The second and third components are dealt with in dashboards SDG 9.2 and SDG 9.3.
In addition to the physical infrastructure – which is already highly developed in the Netherlands – dashboard 9.1 includes the mobility of people and freight. Mobility and infrastructure enable people to move around, for example to and from work, to transport goods, keep in touch with each other and pursue activities in their leisure time. However, this all has detrimental effects on society and the environment: people get stuck in traffic jams, road safety decreases and pressure on the environment increases.
The policy on infrastructure and mobility is within the remit of various ministries, but most of the measures originate at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.noot13 The blueprint Mobility to 2040 sets out the aim of creating a safe, robust and sustainable mobility system that has a minimal negative impact on the living environment, such as less noise pollution, air pollution and energy consumption. The National Environmental Vision (NOVI) aims for optimum accessibility of cities and core economic areas. Consciously combining walking, cycling, public transport and reduced car use contributes to a healthy living environment and a healthy lifestyle and hence well-being.
A number of adjustments have been made to the indicator set in this dashboard. The survey of travel in the Netherlands (Onderweg in Nederland – ODiN), for example, has been used to calculate the indicators concerning kilometres travelled by bicycle, car and public transport. Whereas previous editions only included travel by train, all forms of public transport (train, bus, tram and metro) are now included.
The outbreak of coronavirus and the subsequent measures had a major impact on mobility in 2020 and 2021. For a long time the advice was to work from home as much as possible, to stay in your own area and to receive as few visitors as possible. A curfew was also imposed for part of 2021. Traffic congestion and air pollution decreased and satisfaction with commuting time increased. The indicators on the mobility dashboard for SDG 9 show a mixed picture. Four indicators are trending towards reduced well-being, while three are trending favourably. For two indicators the Netherlands is among the leaders in Europe, whereas for three it is among the laggards. There were no trend changes over the 2014–2021 period compared to those for 2013–2020. There are still too few figures available for 2021 to provide a complete picture.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern resources available for developing and maintaining the infrastructure and the possibilities this offers for the mobility of people and goods. The density of the public road network is increasing, which is beneficial for accessibility. A vital link for accessibility is good quality public transport that is easy to access, but no suitable indicator has yet been found for this. The share of GDP invested in civil engineering amounted to 2.3 percent in 2021. The trend is downward (red).
Use describes the movements using various forms of transport. It is clear that the measures taken to counter the spread of the coronavirus crisis seriously limited mobility. In 2021, for example, more air passengers travelled to and from the five main airports in the Netherlands than in 2020, but this number was still down on 2019. It was also quieter on the roads during the pandemic, with many people working from home and limited visits to other people.
There is a declining trend in the ratio of passenger transport volume to GDP. Freight transport also shows a downward trend. This means that transport in kilometres grew at a slower pace than the economy (figures up to and including 2019). This is deemed to be negative for well-being in the context of mobility.
Within the Netherlands people used cars and public transport much less in the COVID year 2020. If we look at the total number of passenger kilometres travelled by car and public transport combined, we see that the share of public transport fell from 17.5 percent in 2019 to 10.9 percent in 2020. Hence although people drove relatively more often, in absolute terms they travelled fewer kilometres in 2020 than in 2019. Inhabitants aged six and over also travel just under 1,000 kilometres per year by bicycle or e-bike. In Europe, the Netherlands is among the leaders with regard to car kilometres as a share of total kilometres travelled by car and public transport. And although they score low in the EU in terms of use of all forms of public transport, the Dutch travel by train relatively more often than other Europeans.
The government is encouraging the use of electric and hydrogen-powered cars that allow fuel-efficient and cleaner travel than conventional cars. The proportion of hybrid and electric cars in the country’s total car fleet rose sharply from 2.0 percent in 2014 to 8.1 percent at the end of 2021. Although electric vehicles are cleaner to use, their production requires the use of raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, which are rare and cannot always be extracted on the basis of good working conditions.
Outcomes relate to the effects of traffic and transport, such as traffic congestion and delays, accidents, pollution and noise. The CO2 emissions of Dutch airlines in kilograms per capita are trending lower but remain relatively high compared to those of EU countries’ national airlines. Due to COVID in 2020 air traffic was severely restricted from March and more or less came to a standstill in April. CO2 emissions of Dutch airlines fell by almost 40 percent in that year. In 2021 aviation recovered and emissions increased again, but overall CO2 emissions of Dutch companies, on a per capita basis, were still around a quarter lower in 2021 than in 2019.
The volume of traffic on the main road network was considerably reduced by the coronavirus measures in 2020, resulting in less congestion and delay. In 2020 there were 35 deaths in traffic accidents per million inhabitants, compared to 38 in 2019. With the relatively low number of road accident fatalities compared to other EU countries the Netherlands occupied fourth position in 2019.
Subjective assessment refers to noise pollution and satisfaction with commuting time. An increasing number of households have to contend with noise pollution from traffic or neighbours. More than one-quarter (27.4 percent) were affected in 2021. The trend is rising and red, and within the EU in 2020 only Malta has a higher percentage. People were naturally at home more than in previous years due to the coronavirus measures, but it is impossible to say whether they suffered more nuisance from neighbours, or from traffic noise. The satisfaction of the Dutch population with travel time to work has never been as high as in 2021: 85.0 percent. Working from home and relatively quiet roads and public transport will have contributed to this.
SDG 9.2 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: sustainable business
This comprehensive SDG has three main components: infrastructure and mobility, sustainable business, and knowledge and innovation. This second dashboard for SDG 9 describes ways of making businesses stronger and more sustainable and increasing access to high-value markets and finance for small businesses. The SDG agenda contains indicators relevant to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and activities in developed countries such as the Netherlands. CSR also touches on other SDGs: access to credit for small businesses, employee conditions, more sustainable production processes, and inclusive and sustainable value chains within and across national borders. In a developed economy such as that of the Netherlands, the main topics in this regard are relations between employers and employees, the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies and sustainable production processes and products. Some subjects on the SDG agenda are less relevant to the Netherlands, such as increasing the share of manufacturing in the economy.
Various ministries are responsible for policy surrounding this part of SDG 9, where the focus is more on sustainability and inclusivity. Most of the policy measures originate from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.noot14
This dashboard shows a fairly positive picture. For six of the 12 indicators the trend is moving towards the 2030 goals and higher well-being. In other cases the trend is stable. The Netherlands occupies positions in the top and middle groups in the EU.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities describe options for businesses to make their production processes, energy consumption and value chains more sustainable. Two of the four indicators show a favourable trend from the perspective of well-being. In 2021, 5.2 percent of SMEs cited access to finance as the biggest impediment to business operation, compared to 14.1 percent at the beginning of the trend period in 2014. The Netherlands is among the leading group in the EU with this low percentage. The importance of companies active in environmental protection and the management of natural resources is steadily increasing. In 2021, the value added of this environmental sector represented 2.5 percent of GDP, and the trend is green (rising). The environmental sector now accounts for 1.9 percent of total employment.
Of the 100 companies in the Netherlands with the highest turnover, 88 published a sustainability report in 2020. In the previous measurement, in 2017, the figure was 82 out of 100 according to KPMG.
Use concerns companies’ efforts to make production processes, energy use and value chains more sustainable. The energy intensity of the economy – a measure of the efficiency of energy use – shows a downward trend. The trend in domestic consumption of materials is stable – over 9,500 kilograms per capita in 2019; this relatively low consumption places the Netherlands in the leading group of the EU ranking.
Outcomes refer to actual sustainability of production processes and value chains. The Dutch business community consists largely of medium-sized and small firms (up to 250 employees). These generated over 60 percent of the value added of the entire non-financial sector in 2020, placing the Netherlands in a middle position within Europe. The greenhouse gas intensity of the economy shows a downward trend: less greenhouse gases are being emitted per unit of production. This indicates an ongoing improvement in the eco-efficiency of the economy. Although the Netherlands tops the EU ranking in terms of the labour income share (LIS), this is only indicative: comparisons with other countries are difficult due to definition differences.
Subjective assessment provides a picture of how satisfied people in work are with their working conditions and how much trust people place in banks and large companies. In 2020 the percentage of people placing a high degree of trust in large companies rose by 1.6 percentage points to 39.1 percent. Trust remained almost unchanged in 2021. Trust in banks increased substantially in 2020 and 2021, by 5.1 and 2.1 percentage points respectively. The trend here is rising. According to CBS and TNO figures, more than three-quarters of employees are satisfied with their working conditions. Satisfaction increased substantially in both 2019 and 2020, with increases of 2 percentage points each year. The latest figures for other countries in 2015 show a high level of satisfaction with working conditions in the Netherlands.
SDG 9.3 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: knowledge and innovation
This broad SDG has three main components: infrastructure and mobility, industry and sustainable business, and knowledge and innovation. This third dashboard for SDG 9 focuses on knowledge, which is essential for improving economic performance and finding solutions to pressing societal issues. Knowledge can be converted into new technologies and processes, which in turn can be used to improve products and production processes and make them more sustainable. In addition, knowledge has sociocultural and intrinsic value. In this connection it is important that the government and the business community invest in knowledge, that ICT and other technology is expanded and that the stock of capital goods increases. Internet access is essential for access to knowledge.
Most of the policy measures for SDG 9 originate from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.noot15 The picture for this dashboard is mostly positive: for all indicators the trend is rising or stable. The position in the EU ranking is also generally fairly favourable. The Netherlands is only lagging behind on one indicator: gross investments in tangible fixed assets.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern money, manpower and infrastructure to develop, share and apply knowledge and innovation. Five of the eight indicators are moving towards the targets. Gross capital expenditure in tangible fixed assets – mainly investment in machinery and equipment – amounted to 17.0 percent of GDP in 2021. This is low compared with other EU countries (13th out of 16 EU countries in 2020). The number of hours worked in research and development also shows an upward trend, as does households’ internet access. The Netherlands leads the European ranking in terms of broadband internet connections and internet access: in 2021 almost the entire population aged 12 and over had these facilities.
Businesses, institutions and the higher education sector in the Netherlands spent nearly €18.4 billion on research and development (R&D) in 2020 using their own and hired personnel. R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP) stood at 2.3 percent. The trend in total and public expenditure is stable, whereas the trend in the private share of R&D expenditure (1.5 percent of GDP) is rising. The Netherlands was positioned in the middle group of the EU for these three indicators in 2020.
Use concerns the amount of knowledge produced, innovations introduced and knowledge networks formed. The trend in the number of scientific publications is rising. In 2020 the number of publications per million inhabitants was almost 500 higher than in 2014, the start of the trend period. More than one-third of Dutch companies with more than ten employees were seen as technologically innovative in 2018. Although the number of PCT patent applications per million inhabitants has recently decreased somewhat, the trend remained neutral in the 2014–2021 period. In terms of the numbers of scientific publications and patents per million inhabitants, the Netherlands is in the top group of the European ranking.
Outcomes concern the extent to which new technology and knowledge are embedded in the stock of capital goods. The capital stock (machinery, tools and other means of production) is calculated per hour worked. Both the physical capital stock and knowledge capital stock show a neutral trend. For both of these, the Netherlands occupies a middle position among the eleven comparable EU countries in 2020.
Subjective assessment relates to trust in science and innovation. Trust in science is measured every three years by the Rathenau Institute and expressed on a scale from 1 (no trust whatsoever) to 10 (complete trust). Average trust in science rose from 7.1 in 2018 to 7.4 in 2021. The trend is neutral. In 2021 the survey also included questions about the impact of coronavirus on trust in science. Almost a quarter of respondents said their trust had increased, particularly due to the rapid development of vaccines. For 16 percent the speed with which vaccines became available led to a decrease in trust.
SDG 10.1 Reduced inequalities: social cohesion and inequality
SDG 10.1 Reduced inequalities: social cohesion and inequalitySDG 10 aims to reduce inequality within and between countries. Social and economic equality strengthen the social cohesion within a country improving opportunities and inclusion for everyone. This first dashboard for SDG 10 focuses on social cohesion, inclusion and equality. Social cohesion is indispensable for the proper functioning of a society. The social infrastructure – family, neighbours, friends, clubs and associations, as well as interpersonal care and support – forms the basis for this. People must be able to take part in these relationships, in order to feel they are part of a group. Migration merits particular attention in this regard. The financial sustainability of Dutch well-being and the financial situation of households are covered in the second dashboard of SDG 10.
Income policy in the Netherlands has traditionally focused on achieving a balanced distribution of income. To this end, household income – income from work and assets – is redistributed by levying premiums and taxes on the one hand and by providing benefits on the other. If we assess well-being more broadly than on income alone, policy is not so structural and coherent. In the Netherlands the prohibition of discrimination is enshrined in both the Constitution and the Equal Treatment Act. Most policies relating to SDG 10 are drawn up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Policy proposals have also been formulated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.noot16
This dashboard presents a mixed picture. Many indicators show a stable trend or a trend moving towards greater well-being and the SDG goals, but there are also trends moving away from the goal: contact with family, participation in associations and voluntary work. The time devoted to social contacts is therefore decreasing. This decline is visible over a longer period and is likely to have been reinforced in 2020 and 2021 due to the measures imposed. Where indicators in the dashboard can be compared with European countries, the performance of the Netherlands in social cohesion and inequality is average to good.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern in principle social capital, social structures and inequality (income and wealth inequality). This category only includes indicators for material inequality.
At the individual level, the sum of all incomes in the group containing the top 20 percent in 2020 was almost 4.4 times higher than the sum of the bottom 20 percent of incomes. The trend in this so-called 80/20 ratio is stable. Income inequality has recently increased because director majority shareholders have benefited from favourable tax measures. The Netherlands thus fell to a position in the middle group of the EU. The Gini coefficient for income inequality is based on the standardised disposable household income attributed to the individual. It has a value between 0 and 1: the closer to zero, the more evenly distributed the incomes are. In 2020 the Gini coefficient amounted to 0.29. Here too the trend is stable and the Netherlands is positioned in the middle group. Low income can hinder full participation in society: 13.4 percent of the population lives below the European poverty line (60 percent of median income). Within the EU the Netherlands thus occupies seventh position among 26 countries in 2020.
The trend is green, i.e. downward, for both indicators of household wealth. Households with low income and little or no wealth to compensate for this are vulnerable. Their share decreased further, to 5.4 percent in 2020. The Gini coefficient for wealth inequality is also between 0 and 1, and here too the closer it is to zero, the more evenly the wealth is spread. In 2020 it stood at 0.76, which is relatively high. Rising house prices have narrowed the wealth inequality between households. For the lower- and middle-income groups, the home is the most important asset. In the case of wealthier people, other assets that rise less rapidly in value make up a larger share of their wealth.
Use concerns social interactions and participation in society through organisations and clubs, as well as voluntary work. Here three of the four trends are red, but the Netherlands occupies a very high position internationally. Seven out of 10 people in the Netherlands had contact with family, friends or neighbours at least once a week in 2021. In addition, almost 41 percent of the population participated in the activities of a club or association at least once a month, and nearly 39 percent did organised voluntary work. Social cohesion ultimately also relies on help for people outside the household, such as informal care. One in three people in the Netherlands provided some form of informal help in 2021 and this share is stable.
Outcomes concern poverty risk, the extent of social cohesion as well as exclusion and discrimination. Unlike people in employment, self-employed people are responsible themselves for income insurances such as incapacity and pension provision. Many of them do not earn enough, however, to save for these. In 2020, 5.9 percent of the self-employed lived in a household below the low-income threshold, although the trend is downward. Amid the current tension on the labour market it may be attractive for low earning self-employed people to return to full-time or part-time employment. By comparison, 1.2 percent of employees live in a household below the poverty line. Although employees run a considerably lower risk of poverty, this group is much larger than the self-employed group.
In 2018, the latest year for which figures are available, one-third of Dutch people had a positive view of immigrants, with a rising trend. The Netherlands occupies seventh place in the list of 23 EU countries for which this figure is available.
Subjective assessment concerns people’s trust in each other, feelings of shared standards and values and social exclusion. In the Netherlands, trust in other people is high compared with other EU countries, and the trend is upward. 8.7 percent of the population nevertheless felt they were part of a group that was discriminated against in 2018. This places the Netherlands in the middle group in the EU. According to the Netherlands Institute for Social Research over 43 percent of the population felt that norms and values had remained the same or improved in 2019. The trend is stable. Almost half the Dutch population felt they had a lot of freedom to decide how to arrange their lives in 2019. This is a fairly large proportion compared to the other 26 EU countries (third position). For the last two indicators no more recent figures are available because the statistical fieldwork had to be postponed due to coronavirus.
SDG 10.2 Reduced inequalities: financial sustainability
SDG 10 aims to reduce inequality within and between countries. For the Dutch policy context so many indicators have been added that we have produced a second dashboard for this SDG. This part concerns the financial sustainability of Dutch well-being and the financial situation of households.
Debts are incurred and capital is accrued collectively as well as individually. The financial liabilities of the government and of households have an impact on the well-being of future generations. Financial systems may prove vulnerable when confronted with an ageing population, economic crises, geopolitical tensions or globalisation, as well as decreasing solidarity between generations and population groups. The picture in this dashboard is less positive, with five red and three green trends. The Netherlands is positioned in the top group in the EU for just one indicator (green pressure).
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the sustainable financing of the welfare state and accruing pensions and capital without placing a burden on future generations. Demographic pressure provides insight into the relationship between the working and non-working part of the population. The increasing grey pressure (the ratio of people aged 65 and older to those aged 20 to 64) and the decreasing green pressure (the ratio of people aged under 20 to those aged 20 to 64) are unfavourable in terms of the sustainability of well-being over the longer term. The Netherlands is nevertheless in the top group for green pressure in the EU.
Pension assets accrued through pension funds are not freely available and are not transferable, but they do contribute to households’ financial security in the long term. CBS has estimated the size of this pension capital based in part on life expectancy and an expected return on invested pension contributions. After correction for inflation and expressed in constant (2019) prices, this averaged €154,000 per household in 2020.
Dutch employees also generally accrue pension through their employers, who invest it with a pension fund. The coverage ratio – the ratio of assets (pension capital) to liabilities (pension entitlements of all participants) – gives an indication of the funds’ ability to pay out current and future pensions. The financial position of the pension funds improved strongly in 2021. The coverage ratio was 114.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 100.3 percent at the end of 2020. In its supervision of pension funds, the government applies a minimum policy coverage ratio based on the average of twelve monthly coverage ratios. Pension funds that fall below this threshold must implement a recovery plan to improve their coverage. According to De Nederlandsche Bank, the policy coverage ratio also improved strongly from 95 percent in 2020 to 108.2 percent at the end of 2021.
Use concerns the withdrawal of resources from accrued capital. For every 100 participants who accrued pension rights with pension funds in 2020, around 60 received benefits from a pension fund. The trend in this indicator is rising. Not all working people accrue pension with a pension fund. The number of self-employed people is rising and, unlike salaried workers, they are responsible for their own pension provision. Part of this group builds up little or no pension in practice, posing an additional risk to future well-being. The expected occupational pension (estimated on the basis of the median gross pension income of persons aged 65 to 74) was 51 percent of income from employment (approximated on the basis of the median gross income from employment of 50–59‑year-olds) in 2020. It only includes pension accrued during the working life, i.e. excluding state pension provision.
Outcomes concern the incurred debt and the sustainability of financial systems. Dutch households had an average of over €100,000 of debt in 2020. The trend is rising and the Netherlands is at the lower end of the EU ranking (22nd out of 24 countries). Households with a home loan had average mortgage debt of almost €192,000 in 2020. The amount of the mortgage debt also shows a rising trend. Opposite the debts, households have savings and non-financial assets, such as their homes. In the case of savings the trend is rising; with an average of almost €62,000 per household, the Netherlands occupied a middle position in Europe in 2020.
Dutch government finances were in a relatively good position at the start of the pandemic, but coronavirus schemes such as NOW and TOZO caused a sharp rise in expenditure in 2020. The deferral of tax payments, another of the government’s coronavirus measures, also reduced the flow of funds into the public purse. Overall, debt increased in one year by €40 billion to more than €435 billion. The gross debt ratio in 2020 amounted to 54.3 percent of GDP. In 2021 the coronavirus support measures were still fully in force, but the economy recovered strongly. Government debt fell to 52.1 percent of GDP, significantly below the formal European ceiling of 60 percent of GDP. The European Commission also temporarily eased the budget rules in connection with the costs incurred by member states to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Subjective assessment concerns uncertainty about and confidence in the future. Remarkably, the percentage of people expressing concern about their financial future fell again in 2020 and 2021. Despite this positive development, the percentage remains high: almost one in five adults had many financial concerns in 2021.
SDG 11.1 Sustainable cities and communities: housing
SDG 11.1 Sustainable cities and communities: housingSDG 11 focuses on sustainable living and life in cities and communities. The focus of this dashboard is on adequate housing. As a large part of life takes place in and around our home, safe, affordable, good-quality housing with adequate space improves the sense of well-being. People decide where to live based on where they work or study, where their friends and family live, but particularly also where suitable and affordable homes are available. As a result of better facilities for working from home, travel distance from home to work appears to be becoming a less decisive factor. Housing market mobility is important for first-time buyers and people who want to move up the housing ladder. Well-being is also clearly affected by how much people enjoy their home and how much it costs them to live there.
Policy has been formulated for all targets of SDG 11. Given the scope and variety of the sub-goals, various ministries are involved (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and Ministry of Foreign Affairs).noot17 The Rutte IV cabinet has introduced a new ministerial post for Housing and Spatial Planning, focusing on the National Living and Housing Agenda and the Housebuilding Programme. Policy related to the Environment and Planning Act, heritage, accessibility (see also SDG 9), the (European) Agenda for the City, the City Deals and the Regio Deals, is relatively more concerned with the living environment. See the second dashboard of SDG 11.
The picture for the housing theme is not bright, with six rising trends leading to decrease in well-being. On the other hand three trends are increasing well-being and moving towards the SDG goals. The international position of the Netherlands shows a mix of high and low scores. The Netherlands performs well within the EU in terms of satisfaction with the living environment, perceived housing costs and available housing. The Netherlands is among the laggards in the EU, however, in terms of housing costs (the share of disposable income spent on housing) and the price development of expenditure on owner-occupied homes. Compared to the other EU countries, a relatively large proportion of the Dutch population experiences nuisance from neighbours or traffic noise.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the stock and affordability of owner-occupied and rented homes. The dynamics of the market for own homes are slowing. Demand is high: interest rates have been low and investing in and letting homes is attractive for investors. After peaking in 2008, prices of existing owner-occupied dwellings fell to a low in 2013. Since then they have risen and in 2021 the price index for existing owner-occupied dwellings reached the highest level since records began in 1995. In 2021 an existing owner-occupied home cost on average 15.2 percent more than a year earlier, and this price rise was almost twice as large as in 2020. As the supply fell, so did the number of transactions: in 2021 over 226,000 owner-occupied dwellings changed hands, 4 percent fewer than a year earlier. Sales also fell sharply during the credit crisis. Demand was low at that time due to a crisis of confidence; in the case of the current decline demand is high, but there is an inadequate supply of suitable homes.
The housing stock grew by 1.0 percent to more than 8 million homes in 2021. The number of dwellings available per thousand inhabitants was 457 and the trend is rising. Despite the increase, the housing market is tight, because the housing stock is not keeping pace with overall demand. In 2021 almost 69,000 newly constructed dwellings were completed, fewer than in 2019 and 2020 but more than the average in the years 2012–2018. Housing stock changes ae also caused by demolition, joining or separating dwellings and conversion of existing buildings. An example of the latter is when a commercial property is turned into dwelling units. The number of permits issued to construct new residential properties is an indicator of what will be built in the near future: the average time from the granting of the permit to completion is around two years. Due to the nitrogen and PFAS issues the number of building permits issued was relatively low in 2019. In 2020 building permits were issued for 67,000 newbuild dwellings and in 2021 for 75,000, 16 percent and 11 percent more than in the previous year respectively.
The affordability of homes is measured on the basis of the trend in rents and the cost of buying and owning a home. Here the trends are red. Rents are trending higher, although the increase in 2021 (1.8 percent) was slightly less than in previous years because rent rises for sitting tenants were temporarily limited during the coronavirus pandemic. The price index for residential rentals puts the Netherlands in the middle group compared to other EU countries. The costs of purchase and ownership homes and the median ratio between the asking price and the selling price show a rising trend. After a situation of equilibrium between the median selling price and the median asking price in 2019 and 2020, the median selling price in 2021 immediately moved above the median asking price for the first time, with a ratio of 1.057. The Netherlands is among the EU countries with the biggest rise in transaction prices for new and existing owner-occupied dwellings. The price index for expenditure on and ownership of a home is therefore relatively high compared to other EU countries and the Netherlands is now at the bottom of the ranking. Housing costs – the percentage of income that households spend on housing – are high compared with other EU countries (22nd place out of 26 countries in 2020). The share nevertheless shows a declining trend, which is positive from the perspective of the SDG agenda.
Use concerns the homes that people live in and their chances of moving up the housing ladder. There are two ways in which people live in rental accommodation that does not fit their circumstances: financially (rent does not match their income) and physically (size of accommodation does not match household size). In 2018, 15.5 percent of households lived in social housing with a rent that was too low in relation to their income. No trend can be calculated, but in 2018 the share was 1 percentage point lower than in 2015.
The tension on the housing market makes it difficult to find suitable, affordable accommodation. In 2020, nearly 5 percent of the population lived in a home with too few rooms. This percentage is rising, but it is still low compared to other EU countries. Households with a mortgage had an average mortgage debt of almost €192,000 in 2020, more than €7,000 more than at the start of the trend period in 2014. This concerns the entire mortgage debt on which interest is payable. Accrued funds for mortgage repayment through endowment insurance policies, savings mortgages, investment mortgages and similar products cannot be observed and have therefore not been deducted. Here too the trend is upward.
Outcomes concern the quality of the home, the living environment and perceived cost of housing. The quality of homes is generally good: over 85.5 percent of the Dutch population lived in a home without serious defects such as a leaking roof, rotting window frames or problems with damp walls, floors or foundations in 2021. Housing costs were perceived as a heavy burden by 7 percent of the population, but this share is decreasing. The percentage is the lowest in the EU.
Subjective assessment refers to how satisfied people are with their housing and their neighbourhood. Satisfaction with the home decreased by 1.9 percentage points in 2021, while satisfaction with the home environment rose slightly (0.4 percentage points). Overall, the satisfaction of the adult population with both the home (85.6 percent) and the home environment (86.3 percent) is high. In the densely populated Netherlands, however, more than a quarter of the population say they experience noise pollution from neighbours or traffic. Compared with other EU countries, this percentage is high, and the trend is rising.
SDG 11.2 Sustainable cities and communities: living environment
SDG 11 concerns not only housing (dashboard 11.1), but also the environment in which people live. Given the high pressure on scarce available space, how do we keep the local living environment safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable?
The policy for SDG 11 involves many ministries: Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.noot18 There are also clear points in common with other SDGs, such as 6 (Water and sanitation), 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and 13 (Climate action). The government is working on the National Environmental Vision to address issues that impact the physical living environment, such as urbanisation, sustainability and climate adaptation, coherently. This includes the National Environment and Planning Act, which brings together all current legislation on the living environment, but whose introduction has been postponed. Other important elements are the heritage policy, the mobility policy, the (European) Agenda for the City on issues such as rapid urbanisation and the impact of urbanisation on the environment, City Deals and Regio Deals. Disaster resilience can be found in the integrated water management policy and in climate adaptation.
This second dashboard for SDG 11 focuses on environmental factors: the amount of space per person, waste processing and government expenditure on the environment. Other indicators relate to concentrations of particulate matter in urban air and victims of crime. A new indicator in this dashboard is the score awarded for social cohesion in the neighbourhood. People’s bond with their living environment is derived from the number and nature of contacts with other local residents, satisfaction with the composition of the population and the degree to which people feel at home in the neighbourhood.
Four of the 10 indicators in this dashboard are moving towards the goals. In the case of three the trend is moving away from the goals. The Netherlands is generally in the middle group or even among the laggards in the EU.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the space available and expenditure on protecting the quality of the living environment. Because the population of the Netherlands continues to grow, the amount of total space per capita is shrinking. In 2021 there was 91 m2 less space per capita on average than at the beginning of the trend period in 2014. The accessibility or attractiveness of the available space has not yet been examined, but it is clear that green and blue space per capita is also on a downward trend. The Netherlands is the second most densely populated country in the EU: only in Malta do people have less space available. Government expenditure on environmental protection is reasonably constant: 1.5 percent of GDP in 2020. The Netherlands spends a proportionately large amount on environmental protection, putting the country in the leading group in the EU. In the context of the Dutch ecosystem accounts, CBS is currently investigating the relationship between the design of the living environment and well-being, see the report Ecosystems and well-being: the impact of land use changes.
Use concerns how people use their living environment. In 2020 local authorities removed an average of 583 kilograms of waste per capita, substantially more than in 2019 (553 kilograms per person). Due to the coronavirus measures, people were at home more and also had more products delivered to their home, which involved a large amount of packaging material. The Netherlands occupies a middle position within Europe. Possible differences in the types of waste collected by municipal services in different countries may affect the ranking.
Outcomes relate to the quality and safety of the living environment. On a per capita basis, emissions of acidifiers (sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide and ammonia) show a downward trend. From 2020 there are new EU rules for setting emission ceilings and monitoring of emissions against these ceilings (EU National Emission Ceilings Directive). Another positive feature is the steady downward trend in the urban background concentration of particulate matter. Particulate matter is a collective term for suspended particles in the air. This monitor includes the finer fraction of particulate matter, PM2.5 (particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometres).
Another valued aspect of the living environment is the presence of nature. The indicator for urban birds is a measure of nature in the city. Some species of birds are more at home among people and buildings than in the countryside. The situation with regard to the bird species typical of the built environment is not good. The population of 83 indigenous species of breeding birds that are typical of urban areas and found in the Meetnet Urbane Soorten (MUS) has declined by 6.6 percent since the index began in 2007. This indicates that the urban environment is becoming less suitable as a breeding ground for urban birds.
Safety in the living environment appears to be increasing, as the number of people in the Netherlands who report having been victims of crime is decreasing steadily and the trend is downward. In 2021, crime affected 17.1 percent of the population aged 15 years and older. In 2014 the figure was still almost 29 percent. These figures are taken from the Safety monitor 2021. Due to changes in the questions and in the design of the study, the results of the 2021 Safety monitor are not readily comparable with those of the previous editions. Here we have used figures from the updated Safety monitor that have been adjusted to take account of this change.
A new indicator in this dashboard is the score awarded by residents for social cohesion in their neighbourhood. People’s bond with their living environment is derived from the number and nature of contacts with other local residents, satisfaction with the composition of the population and the degree to which people feel at home in the neighbourhood. In 2021 people awarded a score of 6.4 out of 10 for the social cohesion in their neighbourhood. Satisfaction shows a rising trend.
Subjective assessment describes how people experience their living environment. In 2021, 2.0 percent of inhabitants often felt unsafe in their own neighbourhood and the trend has changed from falling to neutral. Compared to other EU countries, a large proportion of households suffered from noise caused by neighbours and traffic. The trend here is rising.
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and productionSDG 12 concentrates on the transition to a circular economy: how can we make more efficient use of raw materials, with more recycling and less waste? Businesses, government and consumers are encouraged to make conscious choices to ease the pressure on the environment and reduce the dependence on raw materials. In this way we can limit the negative consequences of our consumption pattern for future generations.
Dutch policy covers all parts of SDG 12 and is drawn up primarily by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, with documents from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.noot19 The government-wide Circular Economy 2050 programme is led by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management with contributions from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (circular agriculture) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (making basic industry more sustainable). There is also the regional and city policy (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations), central government itself contributes through the policy on socially responsible procurement (SRP) and the business community is encouraged to conduct business in a socially responsible manner (CSR). There are important cross-links between SDG 12 and in particular SDGs 2, 6, 7, 13 and 15. CBS has conducted additional research in order to bring more clarity to these data.noot20
The trends in the indicators in this dashboard show stable to rising well-being, with the exception of the declining trend in recycled industrial waste. With regard to the value added of the environmental sector, raw material productivity and recycling of municipal waste, the trend is moving towards the goals of the SDG agenda. The Netherlands also performs fairly well within the EU, with four positions among the leaders in Europe. The Netherlands only occupies a very low position for the amount of hazardous waste.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities relate to the possibilities for sustainable production and consumption. Of the 100 companies in the Netherlands with the highest turnover, almost 90 published an annual sustainability report in 2020. The importance of the environmental sector in the economy is also growing. Companies in this sector produce goods and provide services in the field of environmental protection and the management of natural resources. The trend in their value added is rising and reached 2.5 percent of GDP in 2021. Employment in the environmental sector shows a neutral trend and accounted for 1.9 percent of total employment in 2021. Internationally, the Netherlands occupied a middle position in 2018 with regard to the value added of the environmental sector.
Use concerns the volume of raw materials and other materials used and waste generated. The government wants to halve the use of abiotic raw materials between 2014 and 2030 and create a completely circular economy by 2050. Since the consumption of raw materials does not appear to be falling fast enough to halve the use of abiotic raw materials by 2030, however, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency is requesting more concrete measures. With a relatively low volume of domestic material consumption, the Netherlands ranked third in the EU in 2019. Another policy goal is decoupling waste production and the economy. This means that economic growth is accompanied by a decrease in waste, either in relative terms or even in absolute terms. The trend in the amount of municipal waste per capita is neutral, although it rose from just over 550 kilograms per capita in 2019 to 583 kilograms in 2020. People were at home more often and for longer during the coronavirus pandemic and spent more online, which led to more packaging waste. The trend in volumes of industrial and hazardous waste per capita also remains neutral. In 2020 the Netherlands produced the equivalent of 1,399 kilograms of industrial waste per capita and in 2018 almost 300 kilograms of hazardous waste. The quantity of industrial waste has decreased recently, however. In the case of hazardous waste the Netherlands ranks 21st, at the lower end of the EU ranking (2018). For municipal waste the Netherlands is in the middle group.
Outcomes concern how efficiently raw materials are used and the recycling of waste. Dutch producers are becoming increasingly efficient in their use of raw materials: the trend in raw material productivity is green and the Netherlands leads the EU ranking in 2020. For the material footprint – the total amount of raw materials used per capita – the trend is neutral. CBS is currently working with other bodies to improve the calculation of this and other footprints.
The government wants to halve the amount of waste that is not recycled, composted or converted into energy between 2012 and 2022. In 2020, 73.9 percent of industrial waste was reused, usually with the involvement of recycling companies or traders in waste and scrap metal. This percentage also includes useful applications of industrial waste such as foundation material for road surfacing or as covering material in landfill sites, but not the use of waste as a (secondary) fuel with energy recovery. The trend has turned from neutral to downward.
The recycling and composting rate of municipal waste shows a rising trend. In 2020 the share was 56.8 percent. Almost two-thirds of hazardous waste was collected separately in 2018. The Netherlands has been high in the EU ranking for the separate collection of municipal waste and recycling of hazardous waste for a number of years.
The country footprint is a measure of land use for Dutch consumption, i.e. how much land in the world is needed to satisfy consumption by Dutch citizens and the government? A growing population and rising prosperity, for example, can increase the demand for biofuels. Or more natural areas will be exploited if existing agricultural land becomes unusable due to erosion, salinisation, urbanisation or desertification. This leads to a decline in biodiversity. The most recent year for which this footprint is available is 2017: 0.6 hectares per capita. No trend can be calculated for this indicator for the 2014–2021 period.
Subjective assessment describes people’s concerns about pollution, wastage, use of raw materials and other aspects of sustainability. In 2021, over 15.9 percent of the adult population reported nuisance from waste, pollution or other environmental problems. The nuisance was clearly greater than in 2020 (14.3 percent).
SDG 13 Climate action
SDG 13 Climate actionHow are we going to combat climate change? SDG 13 tries to provide an answer by setting targets for resilience and climate adaptation, national climate policy, and resources to create awareness and support for the climate measures. In the Netherlands the policy is prepared in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policynoot21 and is centred on the Climate Agreement and the resulting Climate Act. In addition, there is the Delta Programme, which aims to protect the Netherlands against flooding and the consequences of extreme weather. The creation of a ministry for Climate and Energy in Prime Minister Rutte’s fourth cabinet, for the first time ever, reflects the urgency of the climate problem. The policy relating to climate action is closely linked to the commitment to renewable energy (SDG 7), circularity (SDG 12), circular agriculture (SDG 2), industry, infrastructure and mobility (SDG 9), urban development (SDG 11) and water (SDG 6).
This dashboard focuses on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, with energy savings and renewable energy (see SDG 7) also playing a role. Dutch households and businesses also indirectly cause greenhouse gas emissions in other countries, for example in the case of goods and services produced abroad and imported for consumption in the Netherlands. Although the trends for the 2014–2021 period present a predominantly positive picture, the Netherlands is lagging within the EU on several indicators. Only cumulative CO2 emissions are trending unfavourably from the perspective of well-being. This indicator shows the average CO2 that an inhabitant per year has added to the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern the means used in the Netherlands to combat climate change and cope with its effects. The trend in government expenditure related to reducing the Dutch impact on the climate (climate mitigation) is rising, which increases well-being. In 2021, the total was 0.4 percent of GDP.
Use describes the ways in which the Netherlands combats climate change. The Dutch contribution to the globally agreed target for limiting global warming to well below 2oC, and preferably 1.5oC, was set out in the Climate Agreement of June 2019. The national climate targets for 2030 and 2050 are laid down in the Climate Act, which originally stated that by 2030 greenhouse gas emissions must be at least 49 percent lower than in 1990. Until recently, this was more ambitious than the 40 percent that applied to Europe, but in 2020 the EU decided to increase the 2030 reduction target for Europe to 55 percent. The Dutch government has now tightened up the 2030 goal: in the 2021 coalition agreement the Netherlands, like the EU, aims for a reduction of at least 55 percent. To be on the safe side, Dutch policy is focused on a reduction of around 60 per cent. The coalition agreement also states that the Netherlands must be climate-neutral in 2050.
Greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 were 25.5 percent lower than in 1990, according to calculations by CBS and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)/National Emissions Register. The Urgenda target – a reduction of at least 25 percent between 1990 and 2020 – was therefore narrowly achieved, mainly because power stations used less coal and people travelled less during the coronavirus crisis. The reduction after 1990 was mainly the result of halving methane and nitrous oxide emissions. In 2021 emissions nevertheless rose again, as the first half of the year was colder than the previous year and people used more heating. This led to more emissions, particularly due to increased natural gas consumption in the built environment. The total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 compared to 1990 was 23.9 percent according to an initial estimate.
The trend in greenhouse gas emissions per capita is decreasing in the Netherlands. According to the first provisional calculations by CBS and the national emissions register, 9.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalents of greenhouse gases were emitted per capita in 2021. This downward trend is positive from the viewpoint of well-being, but compared to other EU countries emissions in the Netherlands remain high (23rd position out of 27 countries in 2019).
Companies with the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions are required to participate in the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). With this system the EU aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in accordance with the agreements in the Kyoto Protocol. Holders of emission allowances are permitted to emit a specified amount of greenhouse gases. The ETS has no national targets, only an overall target for emissions from the relevant sectors: in 2020 these emissions were to be 21 percent lower than in 2005. In 2020 the ETS reduction for the EU27 as a whole was 43 percent, which means the EU target was comfortably achieved. In 2020, the Netherlands was at the bottom of the European ranking, after Cyprus, with a reduction of only 19 percent.
Outcomes concern all Dutch contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions. The indicator of cumulative CO2 emissions is calculated by taking the sum of annual CO2 emissions from 1860 onwards and dividing it by the sum of the annual population in the same period. The amount of accumulated CO2 emissions is rising steadily, because more is now being emitted per capita than in the past. Cumulative CO2 emissions give an indication of the Dutch share of global historical CO2 emissions. And it is relatively high: the Netherlands ranks 13th out of 16 EU countries for which figures were available in 2019. The trend in the greenhouse gas intensity of the economy – the volume of emissions per euro of GDP – is decreasing, which is positive for well-being.
The greenhouse gas footprint reflects the volume of greenhouse gases emitted for Dutch consumption. It includes emissions of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide caused by economic activities in the Netherlands, plus emissions of these substances abroad during the production of goods imported by the Netherlands. Emissions in the Netherlands caused by the production of goods that are exported are deducted from this. The greenhouse gas footprint amounted to 15.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per capita in 2021.
Subjective assessment refers to climate concerns and the extent to which people see climate change as a problem. According to a CBS study in 2020, over three-quarters of the population aged 18 and over were concerned or very worried about the impact of climate change on future generations. The 2016 European Social Survey also included a one-time question on this. Then, too, just over three-quarters of the Dutch population were worried about climate change and its effects. The Netherlands thus recorded an average score among the 17 EU countries where the survey was conducted.
SDG 14 Life in water
SDG 14 Life in waterSDG 14 focuses on the protection of seas and oceans and on the sustainable use of marine resources. Seawater covers around three-quarters of the planet and constitutes the world’s largest ecosystem. The increasing negative effects of climate change, overfishing and pollution threaten both the intrinsic value of the ecosystem itself and the use made of it. The dashboard focuses among other things on water quality and the sustainability of the North Sea fishery.
Although there are a lot of measurement data on the various marine waters of the Netherlands (part of the North Sea, the Wadden Sea and the estuaries), there are as yet few uncontested summary indicators that are measured promptly and frequently enough to be included here. Because few EU countries border the North Sea, it is also not easy to make an international comparison. CBS and Rijkswaterstaat are currently conducting a joint study of the natural capital of the North Sea, focusing mainly on the ecosystems services provided by the North Sea. This study is also looking explicitly at the biodiversity and environmental quality of the area, and the pressure on it. A pilot project has also been launched to take stock of data on the Wadden Sea region, also with the aim of capturing the environmental quality and biodiversity of this area in indicators.
Policy measures for SDG 14 originate from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.noot22 The North Sea Policy Document 2016–2021 contains the overarching policy for the North Sea, to which many international agreements are linked. There are many cross-links with other SDGs: 2, 7, 12, 13 and 15; the North Sea Agreement, for instance, focuses on transitions (nature, food, energy). European fisheries policy focuses primarily on increasing the sustainability of the sector. The Coastal Pact is important for climate adaptation and the policy on litter affects circularity. The Wadden Sea is covered by the Draft Agenda for the Wadden Sea Region 2050.
Outcomes
Resources and opportunities concern the size of the marine area and the resources used to maintain and protect it. Although a large proportion of Dutch marine waters are located within protected areas, many activities still take place there. Since various forms of protection and use overlap, the protection is not implemented fully everywhere and it is not yet possible to give a clear picture of relevant developments.
Use states how we use the sea for economic activities and recreation and how we protect the natural resources in it. The Dutch marine waters are used intensively for shipping, fishing and recreation. Wind farms are also being constructed in an increasing number of areas in the North Sea and experiments are being conducted with other forms of sustainable energy. No indicators fulfilling the quality requirements of this report are yet available to describe these uses for the whole marine area of the Netherlands.
Outcomes describe the quality of seawater and natural life in and around Dutch marine waters. Fish stocks constitute a natural resource that is exploited by various countries. European fisheries policy is aimed at ensuring sustainable and balanced use and preventing overfishing by imposing catch limits. The monitor shows the state of six commercial fish species, comparing current fish stocks with sustainable fish stocks (i.e. stocks necessary to maintain a healthy population). The trend is stable. According to the ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), in 2021 the populations of herring, plaice, haddock and, after a long period, sole were large enough to constitute a sustainable fish stock; in the case of cod and for the first time in many years pollack, that was not the case.
In 2020, 82.2 percent of Dutch coastal bathing water qualified as ‘excellent’ and the trend is stable. This puts the Netherlands low in the middle group of the European ranking. In the more general ‘Clean Water Index’ the score differs somewhat from that of previous years. This is due to a revision of the Ocean Health Index, on which the Clean Water Index is based; the outcomes are now based on other data and methods. The trend over the 2014–2021 period is rising: water quality is improving.
The North Sea fauna indicator is a benchmark for developments in biodiversity in the water and life on the seabed, including sea birds. The most recent figure is for 2015, and no trend can be calculated for the 2014–2021 period. In the 1990–2015 period, the average population of animals in the North Sea had declined by almost one-third. Of the total of 140 species in this indicator, 57 decreased significantly in number and 35 increased. In particular the number of benthos – the largest group in this indicator with 85 species – decreased. This indicator is only updated occasionally, but an update is expected in 2022 and it will then be seen whether the biodiversity of the deep waters of the North Sea remains under pressure.
Subjective assessment relates to people’s concerns about pollution and life in the seas. For this category too no indicators are available.
SDG 15 Life on land
SDG 15 Life on landSDG 15 concerns the protection, restoration and sustainable management of all forms of life on land. Protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity can strengthen resilience to increasing population pressure, intensification of land use and climate change. Healthy ecosystems underpin processes that have a major impact on well-being, such as the availability of clean water and air, the presence of insects for pollination and opportunities for leisure, recreation and education. Nature has intrinsic value for well-being ‘here and now’ and for future generations. It is also a critical factor: once ecosystems are destroyed, the damage may prove irreparable.
The policy for SDG 15 originates particularly from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and for certain parts with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.noot23 The Climate Agreement sets targets for greenhouse gas reduction for agriculture and land use. These goals also touch on SDG 13. Yhe National Agricultural Soils Programme (NPL) aims for sustainable soil management of all Dutch agricultural land by 2030, so that the soil can function optimally and the quality is and remains as high as possible for future generations. Sustainably managed soils are also important for SDG 2.
The trends in this part of the dashboard are predominantly downward or neutral. A decline in well-being can be seen in indicators for the available space and biodiversity. The international comparison puts the Netherlands amid the laggards in half of the cases. Expenditure on the environment and environmental protection is relatively high compared to other EU countries.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities concern how much natural space there is and the resources for restoration and protection. In 2020 government expenditure on environmental protection amounted to 1.5 percent of GDP, which is high compared to other EU countries. Total environmental expenditure (environmental costs and investments by governments and businesses) is also relatively high compared to that in other EU countries.
The population is growing and the available area per person is thus decreasing further; the trend is red. Within the EU only the inhabitants of Malta have less land and water available per person. Less than 15 percent of the Dutch land area is covered with nature and forest, putting the Netherlands at the bottom of the ranking of EU countries. There are insufficient data to determine a trend for the 2014–2021 period.
The ‘green and blue’ area per capita, excluding regular agriculture, decreased to 907 m² in 2020. This indicator from the CBS ecosystem accounts shows a downward trend. The total area of this space shows a small increase between 2015 and 2020, but the number of inhabitants is also growing. Farmers are increasingly using some form of nature management on their fields and grasslands, but this growth masks the decrease in landscaping elements such as hedges, hedgerows, tree rows and forest in the Netherlands. The green and blue space indicator excludes the North Sea and regular agriculture as it would be so dominant in terms of its surface area that developments in all other landscape units would no longer be visible. In addition, the inclusion of the entire Dutch sector of the North Sea area would not be representative of the available space per capita. The area of the Wadden Sea and the IJsselmeer has been included, however, which explains the relatively high number of square metres per capita.
Use concerns the protection and use of natural space and its ecosystems and the pressure put on the natural system by human activities. In the Netherlands, nature is protected within the Netherlands Nature Network (NNN). This concerns both existing and new nature areas in national parks and Natura 2000 areas and land purchased for nature development. At the end of 2020, the NNN acreage made up more than 20.7 percent of the land area. The acreage increasing, in line with the agreement of the provincial governments to establish 80,000 hectares of new natural resources by the end of 2027. In order to achieve the goal in practice, both central government and the provincial authorities have now set up a task force to ‘accelerate delivery of the remaining 80,000 hectares of additional natural land’. The remaining task now is to complete the detailed planning for 36,000 hectares of NNN area, according to the report Ecosystems and well-being: the impact of land use changes.
Phosphorus and nitrogen surpluses, mainly caused by agriculture, have negative consequences for the quality of the surface water and ecosystems such as heathland, forests and dunes. These figures are partly available for half of the EU countries, but the Netherlands was among the laggards in the EU in terms of both phosphorus and nitrogen surpluses in 2019.
Outcomes relate to the quality of ecosystems and biodiversity. The Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. The intensive production that this requires has a downside: very high nitrogen deposition. If more nitrogen precipitates than the natural vegetation can cope with, it exceeds the critical load value: nature is then at risk and specific species will disappear. The greater the excess and the longer it lasts, the greater the detrimental effects. The critical load value was exceeded in more than 71 percent of all natural land areas in the Netherlands, which is a very high percentage. The trend is neutral and thus shows no improvement. Moreover, the available data are from 2018; the RIVM and WUR are expected to publish new data in mid-2022.
The indicator for farmland (meadow, field and farmyard) birds is a measure of the quality of the agricultural area. Here the downward trend points to a sharp deterioration in living conditions for these species: the index was almost 40 percent lower in 2020 than in the starting year (2000). The goose population is flourishing, but these birds are spread much more widely than on farmland alone. To describe biodiversity we also use the red list indicator here. This states that 60.8 percent of species (across seven species groups of animals and higher plants) in the Netherlands, are not at risk. The trend here is also red: the proportion of species at risk is increasing. Land fauna is not faring well either: the trend here is also red. In 2020 this index was 18 percent below the level of the 1990 base year.
Subjective assessment describes people’s perception of the quality of natural areas and concerns about pollution and the disappearance of species. In 2021, over 15.9 percent of the adult population reported nuisance from waste, pollution or other environmental problems. The trend is neutral, but the nuisance was clearly greater than in 2020 (14.3 percent). The Netherlands occupies a middle position within Europe.
SDG 16.1 Peace, justice and strong institutions: security and peace
SDG 16.1 Peace, justice and strong institutions: security and peaceThe main subject of SDG 16 is a peaceful and safe society. In addition to peace and security the goals here also cover institutions. This first dashboard (16.1) is about security and peace; institutions are covered in a second dashboard for this SDG (16.2).
With regard to security and peace, all forms of violence and the resulting mortality must be reduced, with particular attention devoted to violence against children and organised crime. In a secure society, everyone has access to the legal system, and corruption is combated. Feelings of a lack of safety – with the accompanying vulnerability and uncertainty – can have a major impact on personal life. How safe people feel therefore has an effect, both objectively and subjectively, on well-being ‘here and now’.
It is the task of the armed forces, police and judiciary to increase and maintain security, both through prevention and through the legal system. Public trust in these bodies can increase the sense of security.
Dutch policy covers the bulk of SDG 16. Most policy measures and intentions have been drawn up by the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, but the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also formulated policy for parts of this SDG. The most important input is provided as part of the security and anti-subversion policy. Attention is also paid to access to justice.noot24
The dashboard contains a new indicator: suspected child abuse: The figures in this dashboard also sometimes differ from those in previous editions of the Monitor of Well-being & the SDGs. Due to changes in the questions and in the design of the study, the results of the 2021 Safety monitor are not readily comparable with those of the previous editions. In terms of trends, the picture for this dashboard is fairly positive, with most indicators pointing to stable or rising well-being. The trend is moving away from the goal only in the case of the operational strength of the police and trust in the rule of law. The Netherlands occupies a leading position in the EU for three indicators; the country is now among the laggards in the EU only for underage suspects. International comparisons are not possible for all indicators in this dashboard.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities in this context relate to the means used to guarantee fair legal processes and national security. The trend in government expenditure on public order and security is stable. In the case of expenditure on national defence the trend is rising, although the share, 1.3 percent, is still clearly below the 2 percent target pursued within NATO. The government is currently making funds available to increase the percentage of GDP to 1.85 percent in 2024.
The operational strength of the police, on a per capita basis, is declining. The number of officers who have direct contact with citizens and/or contribute directly to core tasks has decreased from a peak of 307 FTEs per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012 and 2013 to 290 FTEs in 2020. This puts the Netherlands in a middle position within the EU27 for all three indicators in 2019.
Use for this SDG is the number of people who come into contact with the judiciary or who make use of the judicial system. The number of people in prisons, penitentiaries and disciplinary institutions is relatively low by international standards. In 2019 the number rose to 67 per 100,000 inhabitants. However, the number of underage suspects (as a percentage of all suspects) who have come to the attention of the police is high compared to other EU countries. The Netherlands ranked 19th out of 22 in 2019. The percentage has hovered around 10 to 11 percent for a number of years.
Outcomes concern crimes committed and their victims. The number of people in the Netherlands who report having been victims of crime such as violence, burglary, theft and vandalism is decreasing steadily. It reached 17.1 percent of the population aged 15 and over in 2021. In 2014, at the beginning of the trend period, the figure was still 28.8 percent. The police also recorded fewer of such crimes: 43.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021 compared to 60.9 in 2014. The trend is downward for both indicators. With regard to victims of crime the Netherlands occupies a middle position within the EU. A proportion of crime remains unrecorded. Not all crime is reported, but the types of crimes that are recorded may also differ from one country to another.
The neutral trend in the figures for victims of cybercrime is still based on the former format of the Safety monitor. In 2019, 13 percent of the population were victims of cybercrime (digital forms of identity theft, fraud when buying and selling online, hacking and cyberbullying). The 2021 Safety monitor carried out a new, more extensive measurement of the number of victims of online crime, which shows that 16.9 percent of the population were victims of online crime in 2021. This new structure means it is not possible to compare this figure with the outcomes in previous years.
Human trafficking is difficult to measure. The data from the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings included in the monitor relates to registered victims. The quality of the figures is insufficient to determine a trend. The number in 2020 was clearly below the peak in 2019. The pandemic was probably a factor, since travel was restricted and the investigation services were hampered by the measures imposed. Moreover, the regulations were changed in 2019, so victims may have been discouraged from reporting. The Research and Document Centre, the knowledge institute for the Ministry of Justice and Security, commissioned the universities of Tilburg and Utrecht to investigate human trafficking. They estimate the number of victims at around 5,000, so there are indications that only a relatively small proportion of victims come to the attention of the authorities.
In the last measurement by the Rutgers Knowledge Centre on Sexuality in 2017, the proportion of young men who were victims of sexually transgressive behaviour was 2 percentage points lower than in the previous measurement in 2012; this is half the original figure. In the case of young women the percentage fell from 17 percent in 2012 to 11 percent in 2017. The measurement frequency of this indicator is too low to identify a trend. Furthermore, no international data are available.
A new indicator in the dashboard concerns the number of reports of actual or suspected child abuse in the 26 ‘Veilig Huis’ (Safe Home) organisations in the Netherlands. In 2021 there were 349 reports per 100,000 inhabitants. One report may involve several different children, and people suspecting child abuse may also voice suspicions of other forms of domestic violence.
Subjective assessment concerns trust in the judicial system, the police and how safe people feel. Trust in the rule of law is one of the six aspects of good governance which the World Bank measures by means of the Worldwide Governance Indicators. Although the trend is downward, people in the Netherlands still place considerable trust in the judicial system, including the police and courts. Only the Scandinavian countries, Luxembourg and Austria have higher levels of trust. The percentage of people who frequently feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood is no longer decreasing.
SDG 16.2 Peace, justice and strong institutions: institutions
In addition to security and peace (see previous dashboard), SDG 16 also relates to institutions. This concerns accountability and transparency at every level, with inclusive and representative decision-making. Public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms are also important goals within SDG 16. Efficient, accountable and transparent institutions are essential for the development and maintenance of well-being. The quality of these institutions helps ensure the coherence and effectiveness of policy. It is also important for institutions to be accountable if a society is to function openly and democratically. After all, if citizens trust the government, they are more likely to participate in society.
In this second SDG 16 dashboard, a relatively large number of additional indicators have been added to reflect the Dutch policy context. Most policy in the area of SDG 16 is drawn up by the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, but the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also formulated policy for parts of SDG 16. For institutions this concerns in particular the openness of the government and the accessibility of government services.noot25
In terms of trends, this dashboard presents a less favourable picture, with three red trends versus one green trend; there is nevertheless a trend change indicating an improvement (for voice and accountability: from red to grey). Compared to other European countries, however, the Netherlands scores very well on this SDG: the Netherlands is at the top of the EU rankings for almost all indicators.
Resources and opportunities
Use
Outcomes
Subjective assessment
Resources and opportunities are resources the government has at its disposal to carry out its tasks and provide services for its citizens. Government expenditure on general public services as a percentage of GDP has continued to decline: 4.1 percent in 2020, 1 percentage point less than at the beginning of the trend period in 2014. The trend is red: for this SDG the availability of fewer resources for the government is deemed to have a negative impact on well-being and the achievement of the goals. The Netherlands is currently among the laggards in the EU (22nd out of 25 EU countries in 2020).
Use here means use by citizens of services provided by the government and social organisations. Active citizen participation in society is essential for a well-functioning democracy. One indicator to measure this is the coverage of collective labour agreements. This coverage is related to trade union membership, but also to the validity of a collective labour agreement for other companies and employees in the same industry. The proportion of employees covered by collective labour agreements decreased to 75.6 percent in 2019. In 2014, at the beginning of the trend period, the figure was still 85.9 percent. A more direct indicator of active participation is the turnout in general elections. The turnout was 78.7 percent in 2021, slightly below the 81.9 percent in 2017. It is difficult to say whether coronavirus measures had an effect on the turnout in 2021. Voting was possible on three days and people aged 70 and over were able to vote by post. The turnout is high compared to other European countries and the Netherlands is therefore in the leading group. For all countries the turnout is that recorded in the most recent year in which parliamentary elections were held. (In some countries there is a turnout or voting obligation that is not enforced.)
Outcomes relate to the quality of public services, the openness and efficiency of the government and public participation. The Netherlands is at the top of the EU ranking for all five indicators in this category. The trends are predominantly neutral, with the exception of the Corruption Perception Index. On the basis of the high position in this Transparency International index in 2021 – fourth in the EU and eighth of the total of 180 countries – the Dutch public sector (score 82 of a maximum of 100 points) can be seen as largely free of corruption, although the trend is declining. Transparency International is concerned, however, about the suspension or lack of procedures relating to voice and accountability in the implementation of COVID-19 measures worldwide. The minimum number of days needed to start a business legally was used as a measure of government efficiency. In the Netherlands this can be achieved in three and a half days (2019), placing the Netherlands in the lead within the EU alongside Denmark and Estonia. The declining trend in voice and accountability in the Netherlands up until last year has turned into a stable trend.
Subjective assessment here concerns the question of whether citizens trust the government. Trust in institutions (the percentage awarding a score of 6 or over on a scale of 0–10) is high compared to other European countries and the trend is rising. In 2021, 66.9 percent of the population said they trusted the police, the House of Representatives and the courts. This is less than in 2020 (69.5 percent), but from 2019 to 2020 the share of people expressing trust had also increased sharply (from 63.1 to 69.5 percent). Trust remains much higher than in 2019, before the coronavirus crisis.
SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals
SDG 17 Partnerships for the goalsThe seventeenth and final SDG has a somewhat different character than the other 16. The focus here is on the formation and maintenance of partnerships to help achieve the other objectives. International cooperation is essential to strengthen capacity and release resources to implement the sustainable development agenda. This requires coherent policy, a cooperative environment and readiness to enter into new global partnerships. SDG 17 concerns the effect that developments in the Netherlands has on other countries; the colours green, grey and red are assigned in the dashboard on this basis.
Unfortunately, no properly measurable indicators are available for most of the sub-goals in SDG 17. A number of these sub-goals are aimed at developing policy instruments to support sustainable development in other countries. No statistical indicators are used for these purposes, but countries have to state whether these policy instruments exist in their country. Statistical agencies all around the world are grappling with the question of how SDG 17 can be made more measurable. CBS is in discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see how we can better assess this SDG for the Netherlands by means of additional indicators. This means that SDG 17 cannot be described in the same way as the other SDGs.
Dutch policy covers the bulk of SDG 17. Like this goal, it is to a large extent part of Dutch foreign policy, particularly the foreign trade and development cooperation policy. Most of the policy is therefore drawn up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are also contributions from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Finance. The Netherlands also works at European level to achieve the SDGs both outside and inside Europe. In the EU, the Netherlands is focusing particularly on international corporate social responsibility (ICSR) and policy coherence for (sustainable) development.noot26
For this SDG, CBS currently measures only four indicators, for a small number of sub-goals. Hence there is no classification in terms of resources and opportunities, use, outcomes and subjective assessment, nor is it possible to give a general picture of the direction of this SDG. For this reason, we only describe the trends and positions for the four individual indicators here.
General
In terms of development aid and remittances (wages and salaries earned by non-residents as a percentage of gross national income), the Netherlands is fairly high in the EU ranking: 0.6 percent of Dutch GNI went to development aid, while remittances were worth 1.5 percent of GDP in 2020. Both indicators are presented here in the context of the SDG agenda. From this perspective, increased expenditure is interpreted as rising well-being in the countries receiving the aid or remittances.
It is important to note that measuring the percentage of remittances poses some problems. The indicator refers to remittances of wages and salaries earned by non-residents, but these figures may also include cash flows from private investors. Among the countries with the highest percentages of remittances are Luxembourg and, to a lesser extent, Malta and Cyprus. Tax advantages may also have an impact. Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish non-residents who live in a country for more than 12 months, and remittances through unofficial bodies are not measured. It is not clear to what extent these measurement problems influence the figures, because payment systems vary greatly from country to country.
For total imports from the LDCs, the trend is upward and the Netherlands is high in the European rankings. This is not surprising, because with its major seaports the Netherlands has traditionally maintained very close trade relations with the poorest countries. The significance of the trade flows from the Netherlands may also be overestimated because the figures also include re-exports. Re-exports involve goods that are imported into the Netherlands and leave the country again in a (virtually) unprocessed state. It is still technically very difficult to filter these re-exports out of total imports.
Increasing numbers of students from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA: the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) are coming to the Netherlands to study. In relative terms, substantially more students from non-EEA countries enrolled for the first time on 1 October for a Bachelor’s or Master’s university programme (green trend). In 2014, at the beginning of the trend period, the figure was 9.9 percent; in 2021 it was 14.4 percent. On the basis of knowledge transfer to other countries the increase in the number of English-language study programmes and the number of international students is considered to be beneficial for well-being elsewhere in the world. The well-being effects may also be positive for the Netherlands: highly educated foreign students who stay and work in the Netherlands will contribute to the Dutch economy.
Noten
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
The BMI (Body Mass Index) is an internationally used measure that assesses how healthy your body weight is. The BMI itself is the body weight in kilograms divided by the square of the individual’s height in metres.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
See the CBS report Circular economy and the Sustainable Development Goals.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.
CBS, 2021, Vijf jaar implementatie SDG’s in Nederland, 2016-2020. Statistics Netherlands, The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire.