Informal employment in Netherlands
Netherlands: Informal employment was 5.4% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Informal employment in Netherlands, 2014–2024
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of total non-agricultural employment.
Analysis
The most recent figure for informal employment in Netherlands is 5.4%, measured in 2024.
The figure is up 7.2% on the previous year and down 54.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment in Netherlands peaked at 13.8% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 4.8%, in 2021.
Netherlands ranks 28th of 45 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Informal employment in Netherlands, year by year
| Year | % of total non-agricultural employment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 11.8% | — |
| 2015 | 12.4% | +5.7% |
| 2016 | 13.1% | +5.5% |
| 2017 | 13.3% | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 13.5% | +1.9% |
| 2019 | 13.4% | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 13.8% | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 4.8% | -65.0% |
| 2022 | 5.1% | +4.7% |
| 2023 | 5.0% | -0.9% |
| 2024 | 5.4% | +7.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12.9% | 11.8% | 13.5% | 6 |
| 2020s | 6.8% | 4.8% | 13.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More work & labour data for Netherlands
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 5,256 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 66.71 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 10,535 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.03 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.834 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 130,584 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 94,797 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 64.03 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.4 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.1112 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment in Netherlands?
- Informal employment in Netherlands was 5.4% in 2024, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest informal employment recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 13.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest informal employment recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.8% in 2021.
- How does Netherlands rank for informal employment?
- Netherlands ranks 28th out of 45 countries with data for 2024.
- Is informal employment rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is down 54.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Informal employment (% of total non-agricultural employment). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
This indicator shows the share of workers at working age in informal employment in non-agricultural activities out of total employment in non-agricultural activities, expressed as a percentage. Informal employment comprises workers whose main or secondary jobs are informal. For own-account workers and employers, informality is determined by enterprise characteristics (unincorporated, market-based, and unregistered); for contributing family workers, it is determined by the absence of written contracts and lack of coverage under labor legislation; and for employees, it is determined by whether the employment relationship is not subject to national labor legislation, income taxation, or social protection. The data are based on the statistical standards adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).