The Netherlands popular with international researchers

Research

News agency Sargasso and the Netherlands National News Agency (ANP) drew the conclusions after analysing figures released by the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and Eurostat (the EU statistics agency). Figures from the United Kingdom were unavailable and therefore not included in the analysis.

The research was widely reported in the Dutch media, with both Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf and television documentary programme Tegenlicht (Backlight) reporting the story. The television programme primarily reported on the large amount of Chinese researchers that are coming to Dutch shores.

Other European countries are considerably less successful when it comes to attracting international researchers. For example, the research indicates that France attracts just half the amount of international researchers currently working in the Netherlands, relatively speaking.

Talented workforce

The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is extremely attractive to highly-educated workers. Amsterdam is home to a productive regional workforce drawn from 178 different countries and the largest share of the workforce (44%) is highly educated. Amsterdam boasts the highest density of knowledge workers in the country and an increasing influx of workers from other EU countries, facilitated by the Expatcenter.

Eighty percent of the workforce speaks English, making Amsterdam the largest anglophone city in continental Europe. Ninety percent of the workforce speaks two or more languages. According to the World Talent Index, the Netherlands ranks fourth in the world for attracting and developing talent, surpassing every other country on the European continent.

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