How dependent is the Netherlands on Belgium?

and 5 more

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• Belgium sells 7.1% of what the world exports of vehicle bodies and cabs; next come China (18.7%), Sweden (11%) and Germany (9.2%). The rest of the world exported 13.7 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 9.8% of what the world exports of beer; next come Mexico (37.5%), Germany (6.9%) and Ireland (3.1%). The rest of the world exported 43.9 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 2.5% of what the world exports of zinc ore; next come Peru (15.8%), Australia (11.9%) and United States (11.5%). The rest of the world exported 42.6 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 28.8% of what the world exports of frozen vegetables; next come Canada (13.7%), United States (10.5%) and France (5%). The rest of the world exported 31.2 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 5.6% of what the world exports of breakfast cereals; next come Germany (10.4%), United States (9.4%) and United Kingdom (7.9%). The rest of the world exported 39.8 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 1.9% of what the world exports of hydrogen and rare gases; next come China (17.1%), United States (14.4%) and Germany (12.1%). The rest of the world exported 86.2 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 6.2% of what the world exports of newspapers and magazines; next come United Kingdom (15.9%), Germany (15.3%) and United States (14%). The rest of the world exported 16.7 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 10.9% of what the world exports of malt; next come France (13.1%), Germany (9%) and Canada (8%). The rest of the world exported 58.4 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 6.4% of what the world exports of limestone for lime and cement; next come United Arab Emirates (47.1%), Japan (9.7%) and Oman (8.1%). The rest of the world exported 17 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.
• Belgium sells 4.6% of what the world exports of asphalt roofing and membranes; next come Canada (18.1%), United States (15.1%) and Italy (11.4%). The rest of the world exported 38 times what the Netherlands buys from Belgium.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

The Netherlands is Belgium’s 1st-largest customer, with 15.4% of its exports.

• Trade between the Netherlands and Belgium
• Who does the Netherlands rely on?
• Who does Belgium rely on?
• Dependence of the Netherlands on China
• Dependence of the Netherlands on Germany
• Dependence of the Netherlands on the Cayman Islands
• Dependence of the Netherlands on the United States
• Dependence of the Netherlands on Brazil
• Dependence of the Netherlands on Canada
• Trade profile of the Netherlands
• Trade profile of Belgium
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.