Many of the world's largest tech companies are based in its capital Amsterdam or have established their European headquarters in the city, such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Cisco, Uber, Netflix and Tesla.

The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, fairly low unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus (which, compared to the size of the country, is even more than Germany) and an important role as a European transportation hub; Rotterdam is the biggest port in Europe; and Amsterdam has one of the biggest airports in the world.

Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, high-tech, financial services, the creative sector and electrical machinery.

Its highly mechanized agricultural sector employs no more than 2% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports.

[31] However, the unforeseen consequences of the country's energy wealth originally impacted the competitiveness of other sectors of the economy, leading to the theory of Dutch disease, after the discovery of the vast Groningen gas field.

After declaring its independence from the empire of Philip II of Spain in 1581, the Netherlands experienced almost a century of explosive economic growth.

A technological revolution in capital, due to Protestant traders of Flanders who fled to the Netherlands, helped the young Republic become the dominant trade power by the mid-17th century.

One explanation for this is that the Netherlands were struggling to come to terms with having lost their dominant economical (based mainly on trade and agriculture) and political position in the world.

Griffiths argues that government policies made possible a unified Dutch national economy in the 19th century.

They included the abolition of internal tariffs and guilds; a unified coinage system; modern methods of tax collection; standardized weights and measures; and the building of many roads, canals, and railroads.

The number of people employed in agriculture decreased while the country made an effort to revive its stake in the highly competitive industrial and trade business.

[44] In addition to its own spending, the government plays a significant role through the permit requirements and regulations pertaining to almost every aspect of economic activity.

Excluded from the WW are the following: self-employed, nationally employed, persons working less than four days a week, heads of stockholders and voluntary workers that earn up to €150 per year.

[45][48] The benefits received through the WW are earnings-related and amount to 75% of the previous daily earnings (based on 5 working days per week) for the duration of two months.

Moreover, the self-employed individuals (zelfstandigen zonder personeel (ZZP)) are not automatically covered under the Werknemersverzekeringen, and are not obligated to enroll into unemployment, sickness or disabilities insurance.

Moreover, rather large wealth disparities persist in the Netherlands in relation to age, where those under 35 years-of-age own 10% as much as older workers.

This is a consequence from the low taxation of home ownership and a generous mortgage interest deductibility, which benefit the wealthier households.

[50] Due to the generous pensions the pension-related savings are the most important part of wealth in the Netherlands, yet are not subject to capital income taxation, which increases the inequality.

The Service sector accounts for more than half of the national income, primarily in transportation, distribution and logistics, financial areas, software development and the creative industry.

The Netherlands continues to be one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment and is one of the five largest investors in the United States.

The economy experienced a slowdown in 2005, but in 2006 recovered to the fastest pace in six years on the back of increased exports[52] and strong investment.

[53] In 2018, in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products,[54] the Netherlands produced:[55] The discovery of the large Groningen natural gas field in 1959 and the massive windfalls accrued over subsequent decades, were believed to have led to a decline in the manufacturing sector in the Netherlands,[41] leading to the theory of Dutch disease.

[59] To reduce its greenhouse emissions, the government of the Netherlands is subsidizing a transition away from natural gas for all homes in the country by 2050.

In 1984, the government decided to create a long-term (100 years) storage facility for all intermediate and low-level radioactive waste and research strategies for ultimate disposal.

[67] The older Dodewaard nuclear power plant was a test reactor that later got attached to the national grid but was closed in 1997.

In 1997, the power station at Dodewaard was shut down and the government decided it was planning to end Borssele's operating license in 2003.

With its global ranking of 147th and 83rd place for total contribution to respectively GDP and employment, tourism is a relatively small sector of the Dutch economy.

[77][78] Dutch firms face significant long-term hurdles to investment, including a lack of trained people (71%), and high energy prices (66%).

[81] The Netherlands is home to several large multinationals including Heineken, Ahold, Philips, TomTom, Randstad NV and ING, all of which have their headquarters in Amsterdam.

Thousands of companies of non-Dutch origin have their headquarters in the Netherlands, like EADS, LyondellBasell and IKEA, because of attractive corporate tax levels.