Economy of the Netherlands

According to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Netherlands was the 18th largest economy of the world in 2012. This for a country that has about 17 million inhabitants.). GDP per capita is roughly $43,404 which makes it one of richest nations in the world per capita). Between 1996 and 2000 annual economic growth averaged over 4%, well above the European average. Growth slowed considerably in 2001-05 as part of the global economic slowdown. 2006 and 2007 however showed economic growth of 3.4% and 3.9%. The Dutch economy was hit considerably by the ongoing global financial crisis and the ensuing European debt crisis.. The Netherlands have a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, fairly low unemployment and inflation, a very big sizable current account surplus and an important role as a European transportation hub, with Rotterdam as far out the biggest port in Europe and Amsterdam as one of the biggest airports in Europe. Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, hightech, financial services, creative sector and electrical machinery. A highly mechanised agricultural sector employs no more than 2% of the labour force but provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002. This video is targeted to blind users. Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA Creative Commons image source in video