Innovation under pressure: government turns off the money tap
The Netherlands will invest significantly less in research and development in the coming years.
Published on May 12, 2025
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Dutch government spending on research and development will fall from €9.7 billion in 2024 to €8.4 billion in 2029. Tax incentives for research by companies are also increasing at a slower rate than in many other countries. This is stated in a new report by the Rathenau Institute.
The two main causes of this are cuts to the National Growth Fund, which stimulates sustainable economic growth, and to the contribution for research at universities and university medical centers. The share of innovation spending will fall from 0.86% of GDP in 2024 to 0.66% in 2029. Such a low percentage has not been seen since 2020.
Tax benefits for companies that conduct research will also be reduced. These schemes are intended to make it more attractive for companies to invest in research and innovation.
Not in top 10
For years, the Netherlands was among the top 10 countries worldwide. “But we have slipped out of that ranking,” says coordinator Alexandra Vennekens of the Rathenau Institute. “We have become a middle-of-the-road country. We are hovering around the international averages.”
The Netherlands receives a lot of money from Europe
It is striking that Dutch researchers are receiving more and more money from European funds. Since 2021, when the Horizon Europe program began, they have received around 1.1 billion euros annually. That is more than in the years of Horizon 2020 (2014–2020), when the average was 769 million euros per year. Only Germany, France, and Spain now receive more money than the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is also doing well in percentage terms: almost 9% of all European funding for science comes here. That is the highest percentage since measurements began thirty years ago. Moreover, the Netherlands is relatively often awarded a grant: 21% of applications are successful.
