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Statistics

Students, research and businesses in the Netherlands and worldwide, from UNESCO and Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Students Worldwide and in the Netherlands Research R&D spending, researchers, articles Businesses Dutch firms by sector and size Sources Where the data comes from

Students

How many people study, where, and how many study abroad.

Students in higher education worldwide

274 million

2025

Up from about 100 million in 2000 (UNESCO, 2026). All levels of higher education, November 2026 data release.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026a)

Students enrolled in another country

7.3 million

2023

Students enrolled in higher education outside their home country; 2.1 million in 2000.

Source: UNESCO (2026)

Gross enrolment ratio in higher education (world)

43.8%

2025

Students of any age as a share of the five-year age group just after secondary school (often 18 to 22). Older students count too, so the ratio can pass 100% in some countries.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026c)

Students in Dutch higher education

773,270

Study year 2025/26 (provisional)

Students enrolled at universities of applied sciences (hbo) and research universities (wo) in the Netherlands, full-time, part-time and dual.

Source: CBS (2026b)

Students by country

Indicator

Top 10 · Students in higher education

  1. 1 China 60.1M 2025
  2. 2 India 44.4M 2026
  3. 3 United States 18.5M 2024
  4. 4 Indonesia 10.8M 2025
  5. 5 Brazil 10.6M 2024
  6. 6 Russia 8.1M 2025
  7. 7 Türkiye 7.1M 2024
  8. 8 Philippines 5.8M 2026
  9. 9 Mexico 5.4M 2024
  10. 10 Egypt 4.3M 2025
  11. 40 Netherlands 969.5K 2024
under 8.2K 8.2K to 53.2K 53.2K to 128.7K 128.7K to 265.4K 265.4K to 494.3K 494.3K to 1.9M 1.9M or more no data

190 of 194 countries have data, from 2010 to 2026 (latest year each reported). Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026a), indicator 25053.

Gross enrolment ratio by region

% of the age group
  • Western Europe and Northern America 83%
  • Latin America and the Caribbean 62%
  • World 44%
  • Arab States 37%
  • South and West Asia 30%
  • Sub-Saharan Africa 9%

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026c), latest year (2025).

Students in the Netherlands

CBS StatLine

773,270 students in 2025/26 (provisional), against 832,570 at the peak in 2021/22.

0250K500K750K1M'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25773.3K0250K500K750K1M'11'13'15'17'19'21'23'25773.3K
Show as table
Study yearTotalhbowo
2011/12667,190423,950245,430
2012/13661,120421,690241,370
2013/14688,190440,290250,190
2014/15699,570446,430255,660
2015/16701,120442,590261,170
2016/17712,110446,650268,030
2017/18730,150452,690280,040
2018/19747,840455,670294,710
2019/20767,580463,330306,890
2020/21817,270489,260331,420
2021/22832,570491,440344,630
2022/23817,750476,830344,100
2023/24801,320460,430343,880
2024/25788,730449,930341,720
2025/26773,270440,220335,930

Source: CBS (2026b), table 85423NED, government-funded institutions, counted on 1 October. Hatched column: provisional. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

Research and development

Spending on research and development, the number of researchers, and the journal articles published each year.

R&D spending, world (% of GDP)

1.92%

2023

Spending on research and development by companies, governments, universities and non-profits.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026b)

R&D spending, Netherlands (% of GDP)

2.30%

2023

The same measure for the Netherlands.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026b)

Researchers per million people, world

1,486

2023

Full-time equivalents working in research and development.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026d)

Researchers per million people, Netherlands

6,563

2023

The same measure for the Netherlands.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026d)

Research capacity by country

Indicator

Top 10 · R&D spending as a share of GDP

  1. 1 Israel 6.33% 2023
  2. 2 Liechtenstein 6.05% 2023
  3. 3 South Korea 4.94% 2023
  4. 4 Sweden 3.64% 2023
  5. 5 United States 3.44% 2023
  6. 6 Japan 3.31% 2023
  7. 7 Belgium 3.24% 2023
  8. 8 Austria 3.22% 2023
  9. 9 Germany 3.13% 2023
  10. 10 Switzerland 3.10% 2023
  11. 16 Netherlands 2.30% 2023
under 0.09% 0.09% to 0.20% 0.20% to 0.37% 0.37% to 0.61% 0.61% to 1.04% 1.04% to 1.82% 1.82% or more no data

142 of 194 countries have data, from 2010 to 2025 (latest year each reported). Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026b), indicator EXPGDP.TOT.

Journal articles per publication year

Crossref
02M4M6M8M'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'265.9M so far02M4M6M8M'16'18'20'22'24'265.9M so far

Source: Crossref (2026), works of type journal-article by publication year. Hatched column: this year so far, updated daily.

Businesses in the Netherlands

Every business and institution in the Dutch business register, by sector and by size.

Businesses and institutions

2,450,355

1 October 2026 (provisional)

Every business and institution in the general business register, including one-person businesses.

Source: CBS (2026a)

One-person businesses

82.8%

1 October 2026 (provisional)

2,027,790 businesses where one person works.

Source: CBS (2026a)

Businesses with 100 or more people

8,625

1 October 2026 (provisional)

0.35% of all businesses.

Source: CBS (2026a)

Businesses by sector

1 October 2026
  • Professional, scientific and technical services 535.9K
  • Wholesale and retail trade 299.3K
  • Construction 271.8K
  • Health and social work 233.7K
  • Education 146.2K
  • Culture, sports and recreation 143.3K
  • Information and communication 141.4K
  • Other services 139.1K
  • Administrative and support services 137.5K
  • Manufacturing 88.1K
  • Other sectors (11) 314K

Source: CBS (2026a), table 81589NED, sections of the SBI 2008 classification.

Businesses by size

people working
  • 1 person 82.8%
  • 2 people 7.9%
  • 3 to 5 people 3.7%
  • 5 to 10 people 2.7%
  • 10 to 20 people 1.4%
  • 20 to 50 people 0.9%
  • 50 to 100 people 0.3%
  • 100 or more people 0.4%

Share of all businesses. Source: CBS (2026a), table 81589NED.

Businesses and institutions on 1 January

CBS StatLine
01M2M3M'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'262.4M01M2M3M'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'262.4M

Source: CBS (2026a), table 81589NED. Hatched columns: provisional figures, which CBS revises later. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

Sources and updates

Key figures last reviewed on November 12, 2026.

Update schedule

SourceDataCheckedLast updateNext check
Crossref REST API Crossref · CC0 (metadata) Journal articles per publication year, and this year so farThe count for this year grows every day. Every day November 12, 2026 November 13, 2026
UIS Data Browser (education and science indicators) UNESCO Institute for Statistics · CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Students, enrolment ratio, R&D spending and researchers per countryUIS publishes new data a few times a year; the World Bank republishes it months later, so we read UIS directly. Every 30 days November 13, 2026 December 13, 2026
StatLine table 85423NED Statistics Netherlands (CBS) · CC BY 4.0 Students in Dutch higher education per study yearA new study year once a year; the latest year is revised during the year. Every 30 days October 27, 2026 November 26, 2026
StatLine table 81589NED Statistics Netherlands (CBS) · CC BY 4.0 Businesses in the Netherlands by sector and sizeA new quarter four times a year. Every 30 days October 27, 2026 November 26, 2026
Overzicht Erkenningen ho and RIO open data DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs), Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science · CC BY 4.0 Bachelor's and master's programmes of NHL Stenden: names, places, study modes, languageProgrammes change with the study year; checked twice a year. Twice a year October 27, 2026 April 27, 2027
Key figures from reports UNESCO and national statistics offices Figures typed in from press releases and reportsThese reports appear about once a year; checked by hand. Once a year November 12, 2026 November 12, 2027

Key figures

FigureValueData yearSource
Students in higher education worldwide 274 million 2025 UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026a)
Gross enrolment ratio in higher education (world) 43.8% 2025 UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026c)
Students enrolled in another country 7.3 million 2023 UNESCO (2026)
Students in Dutch higher education 773,270 Study year 2025/26 (provisional) CBS (2026b)
Students in Germany 2.88 million Winter semester 2025/26 (preliminary) Statistisches Bundesamt (2025)
Students in Indian higher education 4.50 crore (45.0 million) 2023-24 Ministry of Education (2026)
Online surveys in published studies: share who answered 44.1% Meta-analysis of 1,071 response rates Wu et al. (2022)
Outreach e-mails that got any reply 8.5% About 12 million e-mails Dean (2019)

How to read the figures

  • Countries report to UNESCO in different years, so the maps show the latest year each country reported; the tooltip names that year. Grey countries have not reported a figure.
  • UNESCO counts all levels of higher education (ISCED 5 to 8), so its country totals differ from national statistics, such as the CBS count for the Netherlands.
  • CBS marks recent figures as provisional and revises them later. Provisional values are hatched in the charts.
  • The publication counter on the homepage uses the Crossref count fetched once a day and adds this year's average rate in between, so its last digits are an estimate.

References

Citation generator

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