Environment at a Glance Indicators

Netherlands

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.

Context

The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country with a very open economy. It ranks among the largest economies in the euro area and its population enjoy high living standards. International trade plays a significant role in the economy. Given the country’s role as a major trading hub, with the Port of Rotterdam the largest in Europe, transport is an important sector in the Dutch economy.

The country is situated on the south-east shore of the North Sea, at the downstream end of three international river basins. About 30% of the total surface area of 41 573 km² lies below sea level, in the west and north, protected from the sea by barriers of dunes and dikes. The Netherlands’ highest point is only 321 metres. Half of the territory is prone to flooding and the Netherlands faces persistent water challenges, such as water shortages and water quality. The need to protect the land from high water from rivers and the sea, and the tradition of artificially draining low-lying areas, have combined to give the Netherlands a complex hydraulic infrastructure. The low-lying parts of the country is highly urbanised. Rural areas are used for intensive farming. The Netherlands has major natural gas reserves and a small amount of oil. It was a major producer of natural gas, but the production has been reduced significantly since it led to earthquakes in the province of Groningen. The Netherlands has a role as a trade and transit hub for oil, gas, electricity and coal.

Climate change

Energy mix

Air quality

Air emissions

In general, air pollution emissions show a downward trend for all sources in the last two decades. However, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) increased again in 2020, due to an increase in the use of disinfectants as a result of the corona pandemic.

Road transport is the largest contributor to NOx emissions, although it decreased by 70% since 2000, due to greater use of catalytic converters and particulate filters. NOx emissions also reduced due to the mandatory application of selective catalytic reductions in the industry, refineries and the energy sector, better insulation, more high-efficiency boilers in houses and office buildings, and a reduction in the usage of coal.

Freshwater resources

Intensity of use of freshwater resources

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Material consumption

The Netherlands imports many products that are subsequently exported after some form of processing. For example, the Netherlands imports a substantial amount of crude oil and, after processing petroleum products like motor fuels, re-exports them. The Netherlands exports more materials per person than other EU countries. The per person material input is relatively high compared to neighbouring countries and the EU area, and it has increased since 2000.

Material consumption of the Netherlands decreased by 26% since 2000, while material productivity increased by 61%. The material productivity in the Netherlands is consistently well above the average of all OECD countries and the European OECD countries. The material footprint peaked in 2019 and has been decreasing since, although it is still much higher than the material consumption per person. It should be noted that the high material input in the Netherlands is partly influenced by international trade flows and re-export, making per person input a not so strong indicator of a circular economy.

Contrary to most other OECD countries, fossil energy materials have a larger share in the material mix than non-metallic minerals. The total amount of raw materials used in the Dutch economy, excluding recycled waste (the direct material use), decreased considerably in 2022 compared to 2018. The decrease in raw material use is mainly due to lower use of fossil fuels and non-metallic minerals. The nitrogen crisis plays a role in this.

Biodiversity

Protected areas

References and further reading

OECD (2015), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: The Netherlands 2015, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264240056-en.