What are our biggest export products?
The Netherlands exported goods worth a total of 686 billion euros in 2023, excluding the transit trade. At 157 billion euros, exports of machinery and equipment were worth the most, accounting for 23 percent of the total value of Dutch exports.
Manufactured goods represented 20 percent of total export value, while mineral fuels – such as oil and natural gas – accounted for 18 percent in 2023. Chemical products had an export value of 112 billion euros or more. Meanwhile, food and beverages, raw materials and natural products, and transport equipment together accounted for 162 billion euros. These goods include agricultural products, flowers and ornamental plants, and cars and lorries.
Important trading nation
Many of the products we export are made elsewhere. Almost half of the products exported by Dutch companies are purchased from abroad and sold again without much processing in the Netherlands. These products are called re-exports. More than half of the manufactured goods and machinery and equipment that we export are re-exports.
Most of our food and beverage exports are produced in the Netherlands: 63 percent of these products were produced in the Netherlands in 2023 (accounting for 57 billion euros in export value). Exports fell overall in 2023 – the first drop since 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. The total value of exported goods was 44 billion euros lower than the previous year.
| Goederen | Produced in the Netherlands | Re-exports |
|---|---|---|
| Machinery and equipment | 64.5 | 92.2 |
| Manufactured goods | 50.1 | 84.0 |
| Mineral fuels | 69.1 | 51.2 |
| Chemical products | 56.4 | 55.6 |
| Food and drinks | 57.1 | 33.4 |
| Raw materials and natural produce | 24.6 | 12.1 |
| Transportation equipment | 24.4 | 10.4 |
Most goods bound for Germany
Germany is the main destination for Dutch exports. In 2023, the Netherlands exported goods to Germany worth 155.7 billion euros, representing 23 percent of Dutch exports by value. Belgium accounted for 12 percent (79.6 billion euros). The other destinations in the top 5 are France (8 percent), the United Kingdom (6 percent) and the United States (5 percent).
There is one difference between the top 10 export destinations for 2022 and 2023: China knocked Sweden off ninth place. Although the value of exports to Sweden in 2023 was almost the same as in 2022, exports to China grew by 3.4 billion euros.
| Bestemming | Produced in the Netherlands | Re-exports |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 62.0 | 93.8 |
| Belgium | 36.3 | 43.3 |
| France | 20.6 | 34.8 |
| UK | 25.8 | 16.9 |
| USA | 24.1 | 10.3 |
| Italy | 10.5 | 18.0 |
| Spain | 8.5 | 13.6 |
| Poland | 7.9 | 11.4 |
| China | 14.5 | 3.6 |
| Sweden | 6.4 | 8.4 |
Source
StatLine – International trade in goods; border crossing, key figures