There were 383,000 international knowledge workers in the Netherlands between 2016 and 2018. That amounted to 4.2 percent of the total Dutch workforce. This percentage is low compared to other European countries, reports Statistics Netherlands. Luxembourg scored highest, with 26 percent internationals. International knowledge workers are defined as highly educated people who live in a particular country but were born in another. From 2003 to 2005, the Netherlands had an average of 221,000 international knowledge workers – 2.7 percent of the total workforce.
When comparing employment levels of the internationals, the Netherlands does score high. It ranks third after Luxembourg and Switzerland, with about two-thirds working at a high level. Unemployment was low in comparison, with about 6.2 percent. The Netherlands showed the highest ratio of self-employed international knowledge workers – 20 percent. The number doubled to 71,000 in comparison to 2003-2005.