BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SDG 8

The Netherlands is generally considered a strong performer on SDG 8. In recent years, the country has maintained high employment levels and good standards of living, while achieving sustained economic growth. In 2025, over 73% of the Dutch population aged 15 to 74 participated in the labour market, the highest employment rate in the entire European Union, while GDP grew by 1.6% (Statistics Netherlands, n.d.a, Statistics Netherlands, 2026a). The Netherlands continues to be committed to the UN's 2030 Agenda and to SDG 8, as reaffirmed in their last Voluntary National Review submitted to the United Nations (Kingdom of the Netherlands, 2022).

Nevertheless, the Netherlands faces several structural challenges in achieving fully inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Labour shortages, skill mismatches, and low productivity growth constrain long-term economic potential, while young people struggle to secure financial security amidst rising living costs (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2026, p. 37; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2025, p. 10).

CURRENT CHALLENGES AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Dutch labour market is characterised by its high participation and low unemployment. The Dutch employment rate reached a remarkable 73.2% in 2025, while the unemployment rate stood at just 3.9% (Statistics Netherlands, n.d.a). However, the Dutch economy is facing significant labour shortages driven by long-standing structural factors, which undermine the country’s prospects for sustained economic growth in the near future. As reported by the OECD (2025), even though the overall employment rate is extremely high compared with other countries, Dutch workers work relatively few hours, part-time arrangements are widespread, especially among women, and an ageing population is gradually draining the labour force (p. 21). Widespread underemployment in the Dutch labour force does not just pose a challenge with respect to economic growth, but also hampers the achievement of decent work for all. Over 32% of Dutch employees had a temporary employment contract or worked a flexible number of hours per week in 2023, the highest share within the European Union. While such flexible work arrangements benefit some people, particularly entrepreneurs, they can have a major negative effect on workers’ well-being and on their financial security (Statistics Netherlands, n.d.a).

This is particularly true for young people. According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2026), young women and men are working harder than ever, with 27.9% of people aged between 18 and 22 in active employment in 2024, mostly in part-time positions held alongside their studies. Yet, 57% of them earn too little to make ends meet. Rising housing costs, which consume about half of the income of younger individuals under 34 years of age, further undermine the financial security of young people in the Netherlands, severely affecting their mental health and overall well-being as well (p. 37). Moreover, there has been a concerning increase in the share of people aged between 15 and 24 who are neither in employment nor in education or training over the last few years, which undermines the progress that has been made since the adoption of the UN's 2030 Agenda (Statistics Netherlands, n.d.b).

Another challenge for the Dutch economy is its sluggish labour productivity growth and the increasing skill mismatches within the Dutch labour market. Labour productivity grew by an average of 0.3% per year between 2015 and 2025, slower than in previous decades. As the most vital source of economic growth in the long term, falling labour productivity growth poses a significant challenge to the achievement of SDG 8 (Statistics Netherlands, 2026b). Stagnant labour productivity is likely related to the increasing skill mismatch between Dutch firms and workers. As reported by the OECD (2025), the digital and low-carbon transitions within the Dutch economy are fuelling disparities between the type of skills sought by employers and those possessed by workers, resulting in an overall decline in productivity (pp. 21-22).

Finally, the Netherlands’ relatively low Spillover Index Score of 44.1/100 in 2025 reveals further challenges in the area of labour rights and work safety in other countries affected by the Dutch economy. Rising fatal work-related accidents embodied in Dutch imports stress the need to address the detrimental effects caused by Dutch imports on the working conditions of producing countries to ensure that the achievement of SDG 8’s targets in the Netherlands does not impair their achievement within other countries (Sachs et al., 2025, pp. 310-311).

LIST OF REFERENCES AND USEFUL LINKS

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2026). Tiende Nationale SDG Rapportage: Nederland op weg naar brede welvaart. Government of the Netherlands. https://www.tweedekamer.nl/kamerstukken/detail?id=2026D23256&did=2026D23256

Kingdom of the Netherlands. (2022). Voluntary National Review on the Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/vnrs/2022/VNR%202022%20Netherlands%20Report.pdf

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2025). OECD Economic Surveys: Netherlands 2025. https://doi.org/10.1787/2dd1f4aa-en

Sachs, J. D., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., & Iablonovski, G. (2025). Sustainable Development Report 2025: Financing Sustainable Development to 2030 and Mid-Century. Dublin University Press. https://doi.org/10.25546/111909

Statistics Netherlands. (2026a, July 1). Economic growth of 0.2 percent in Q1 2026. Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2026/27/economic-growth-of-0-2-percent-in-q1-2026

Statistics Netherlands. (2026b, April 21). Labour productivity in the Dutch economy up by 2.4 percent in 2025. Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2026/17/labour-productivity-in-the-dutch-economy-up-by-2-4-percent-in-2025

Statistics Netherlands. (n.d.a). SDG 8.2 Labour and leisure time. Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/visualisations/monitor-of-well-being-and-the-sustainable-development-goals/sdg-s/sdg-8-2-labour-and-leisure-time

Statistics Netherlands. (n.d.b). SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth. Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/dossier/well-being-and-the-sustainable-development-goals/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-8-decent-work-and-economic-growth

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Country Profile: Netherlands. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/countryprofiles/nld