Government at a Glance 2017

Country Fact Sheetwww.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Public finances continue to normalize in the Netherlands, reaching a small fiscal surplusin 2016

The government balance has improved from a -5.4% of GDP in 2009, at the trough of the international financial crisis, to a surplus of 0.4% of GDP in 2016. The primary balance, which measures the overall balance excluding net interest payments on government debt, went from -1.2% of GDP in 2015 to +1.2% of GDP in 2016 (according to the System of National Accounts definition). This result was due, in part, to a 1.7 p.p. decrease in the level of public expenditures that declined from 45.3% of GDP in 2015 to 43.6% of GDP in 2016.

Chapter 2. Public finance and economics

General government fiscal balance as a percentage of GDPGeneral government primary balance and net interest spending as a percentage of GDPGeneral government expenditures as a percentage of GDP

Women have a high participation in politics in the Netherlands

Female participation is an important feature of a healthy and inclusive political system. In parliament and legislature bodies, the average share of women seats for 2017 across OECD countries was 29%. Yet in Netherlands this share is higher: the share of women parliamentarians was 38% for the same year. Within the executive branch, while the share of women ministers in 2017 was 28% on average among all OECD countries, in Netherlands this share reached also 38.

Chapter 3. Public employment and pay

Share of women parliamentarians and legislated gender quotasShare of women ministers

The Netherlands continues to conduct regular government spending reviews

The country has a long-standing tradition of conducting public expenditure reviews. Between 2008 and 2016, the government of the Netherlands conducted public spending reviews on an annual basis: 1 com-prehensive review and 8 targeted spending reviews, where the scope is limited to a single program or line ministry accounting for up to 5% of all government spending.

Chapter 5. Budgeting practices and procedures

Frequency and scope of spending reviews

Netherlands

Fiscal balance*(2015, 2016)

Government expenditures(2015, 2016)

Government gross debt*(2015, 2016)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts

G@G /dataG@G /data

26134,500

88,70052,700

Middle Managers(D3 positions)

Senior Managers(D1 positions)

SeniorProfessionals

SecretarialPositions

2015USD PPP

150,000

300,000

450,000

231,500

66,200

Netherlands

121,100 141,000204,400

Annual compensation across central government positions (2015)

Government investment(2015, 2016)

How to read the figures:

Netherlands

Country value in blue (not represented if not available)

Average of OECD countries in red

Range of OECD country values in grey

Public Finance and Economics

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

24.9%30.3%

Netherlands

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

2015

40.9%

43.6%2016

45.3%2015

Netherlands

2015

3.2%

3.1%2016

3.3%2015

0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

Netherlands

78.1%2015

75.8% 100%

0%

2016

112%100%

0%

2015

0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

Netherlands

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not available

% of GDP

Public Employment

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the compensation of employees in central / federal governments

... and in senior positions (2015)

Source: OECD* See Notes National Accounts

Source: OECD* SNA definition, see Notes National Accounts

Public Sector Compensation

53.0%44.2%Netherlands

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

32.4%28.0%Netherlands

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Women in the civil service ...

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or older

(2015)

General government employmentas % of total employment (2015)

18.1%

12.8%Netherlands

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Source: OECD National Accounts

-10% 0%-5% +5% +10%

-2.8%

Netherlands2016

0.4% -2.1%

2015

2015

Budgeting

Women in Government

Extent of delegationof HRM practicesin line ministries

0.53

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

assessmentsin HR decisions

0.79

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

related pay

0.560.66

Use of separateHRM practices

for seniorcivil servants

0.78

0.55

Collectionof administrative

data

0.59

0.68

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

Netherlands

G@G /data

Source: OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey

Composite indicators on HRM practices in central government (2016)

Human Resource Management

Composite indices on regulatory governance for primary laws*(2014)

G@G /data

Regulatory governance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

29.1%

50%

44.5%

Netherlands

Source: OECD National Accounts

General governmentprocurement expenditures

(2015)% of government expenditures

Public Procurement

Support for greenpublic procurement

Some procuring entities have developed an internal strategy/policy

A strategy/policy has been developed at a central level

Support forSMEs

Support for innovativegoods and services

A strategy/policy has been rescinded

There has never been a strategy/policy in place

11 25 1 0 8 24 0 1 9 19 0 6

Netherlands

Strategic public procurement - Objectives(2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on Public Procurement

* See Notes Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

0.41

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0.50Netherlands

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

Performance budgetingpractices at the central level

of government (2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey of Performance Budgeting

Stakeholderengagement in

developing regulations

1.41

2.09

Regulatory ImpactAssessment for

developing regulations

1.50

2.05

Ex post evaluationof regulations

1.45 1.54

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 4 highest

0

1

2

3

4

Netherlands

Notes Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures. Regulatory governance indicators: The results for stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessment apply exclusively to processes for developing primary laws initiated by the executive. Data is not applicable to the United States, where all primary laws are initiated by Congress. In the majority of countries, most primary laws are initiated by the executive, except for Mexico and Korea, where a higher share of primary laws are initiated by parliament/congress (respectively 90.6% and 84%). Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which dif fers from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.

Open Data Digital Government

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

35.6%55.0%

Netherlands

Individuals using the Internet for sending filled forms via public authorities websites

in the past 12 months (2016)

Source: OECD, ICT database; and Eurostat, Information Society database

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

(2017)Composite index: from 0 lowest to 1 highest

Source: OECD (2017) Survey on Open Government Data

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.66

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.55

Netherlands

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Differences in income inequality pre and post-taxand government transfers (2013)

Netherlands

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

0.44

0.28taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.32taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Limited government powers (2016)

0.75

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.89Netherlands

Source: The World Justice Project

Core Government ResultsSatisfaction and confidence across public services

(2016)

70%

Judicial system Education system

86%20

40

60

80

100

Health care

67%78%55%66%

National government42%57%

Netherlands

Average

Range

Police77%76%

Source: Gallup World Poll

% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Government at a Glance 2017Government at a Glance provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the goal of contributing to the analysis and international

comparison of public sector productivity and performance. Indicators on government revenues, expenditures, and employment are presented,

alongside key output and outcome data for education, health and justice. Information on key enablers to increase productivity including on digital

government, budget procedures, strategic human resource management, open government data and innovative practices are also included. In

a context of tight budget constraints in many member countries, good indicators are needed more than ever, in order to help governments make

informed decisions regarding resource allocation and to help restore confidence in government institutions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2017-en

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2017 are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm