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Netherlands Economic Forecast

By: EconomyWatch Content Team Date: 21 June 2010

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The economy of the Netherlands is open and highly dependent on imports and exports. Although this country is noted for many things, its stable international industrial relations, along with strong national current account balance surplus, hub for European transportation, as well as moderate inflation and unemployment rates puts this economy in a good position. Some of the things the Netherlands economy depends on include food stuffs processing, chemicals, oil/gas refining, and electrical machinery. Interestingly, the strong agricultural, agrarian, fisheries, and farming sectors only employ a small percentage of the country’s workforce but it still offers large amounts of surplus for processing within the country, as well as exportation. Of all nations, the Netherlands is one of the most appealing in Europe for Foreign Direct Investment.

Netherlands GDP Forecast

The location of the Netherlands is a huge benefit, along with one of the countries visited most within Europe. In looking at the Netherlands GDP (Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices, US Dollars), we see in 2008 the numbers were at $876.97 billion in US dollars. Then for 2009, the year closed at $794.777 billion, a slight 9.37% change that placed the country at number 16 for world rankings. Forecasters believe that 2010 will be another strong year with the GDP at $797.45. However, at the close of 2015, numbers are being predicted even stronger at $884.756 billion (US currency).

Netherlands Unemployment Forecast

The most recent numbers for the Netherlands population is around 17 million. This country’s economy is favorable for many reasons, one being the low unemployment rate. For instance, numbers being reported show the Netherlands unemployment rate currently at just 3.3%, which is the lowest in the European Union. Because of this, the percentage of people living below the poverty line is just 1.05%.

Netherlands Inflation Rate Forecast

For the Netherlands inflation rate, averages for the year are used with an index of 2000=100. In 2008, the rate was at 2.21% but then with a 55.93% decline, 2009 ended at 0.974%. At that time, the Netherlands was ranked at number 137 worldwide. Then for 2010, experts are predicting the inflation rate will be at 13.04%, a very small change from the prior year. Now, change for 2015 is slightly more, ending the year’s inflation rate at 1.5%.

Netherlands Current Account Balance Forecast

In determining the Netherlands current account balance major classifications include goods, services, income, and current transfers, which the exception of capital and financial items. The 2009 year-end for the current account balance was at $41.652 billion in US dollars, a very small change from 2008, which reported at $41.98 billion. For 2009, the country was ranked worldwide at number 9. Now for the year 2010, the expected current account balance was at $39.87 billion and for 2015, $43.998 billion in US dollars.