Growth Markets for the Netherlands

In discussions at the administrative and governmental levels, there is an increasing need to identify growth markets where opportunities exist to strengthen the Dutch earning capacity. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate has commissioned a consortium consisting of Dialogic innovation & interaction and SEO Economic Research to conduct a study to map out these growth markets. By growth markets, we are referring to a coherent set of products and services where the added value to the economy is expected to increase significantly due to developments in (1) technology, (2) demand, (3) Dutch policy, and (4) geopolitics. To meet this need, we formulated three research questions: (1) What are the (potentially) strong and weak segments of Dutch business activity compared to other countries? (2) What international trends are expected to unfold in the next five to twenty years? (3) How can we align Dutch capabilities with trends and which growth markets will this lead to? To answer these questions, we conducted an extensive literature and data analysis and held over fifty interviews with experts from companies, knowledge institutions, and other stakeholders. The end result includes the twenty strongest sectors in the Netherlands, 49 international trends, and twelve growth markets for the Dutch economy, namely: - Growth Market 1: Innovative and high-quality molecules in the Biotech sector - Growth Market 2: Innovative and high-quality new materials in the process industry - Growth Market 3: Smart Farming - Growth Market 4: Semiconductors - Growth Market 5: Medtech - Growth Market 6: Fintech - Growth Market 7: Digital transformation - Growth Market 8: (Green) Hydrogen - Growth Market 9: Climate Adaptation - Growth Market 10: Carbon Capture & Storage and Carbon Capture & Utilisation - Growth Market 11: Sustainable infrastructure - Growth Market 12: Circular materials