Why choose Amsterdam for business?

A history of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship

Amsterdam has an international reputation as the free-thinking city of canals, bikes, and tulips. When it comes to business, it's defined by innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. This DNA, along with the region’s dedication to promoting sustainability and social value, creates the ideal place to successfully start or expand your business. Amsterdam has a long history of innovation. The world’s first stock exchange opened here in 1602, and was the home of the very first publicly traded company.

Forward-looking industries

Today, the city continues to break new ground. It’s home to the Netherlands’ most powerful supercomputer and the European Medicines Agency, as well as the world’s first accelerator for sustainable fashion. It’s a city where scientific conferences can easily mix with visionary startups, and unique collaborations push the boundaries of traditional industries.

Within Amsterdam’s business districts and specialised hubs, crossovers and collaborations are frequent. World-leading finance and tech companies benefit from transparent regulations and digitally advanced consumers looking for smarter user experiences. Excellence within academia and research inspires a thriving life sciences and health sector, galvanised by the possibilities of AI. Greener ways of living are explored by sustainable creative industries, while the city’s emissions and circularity targets are giving rise to a dynamic cleantech market. 

Here is a glimpse of how Amsterdam stacks up next to other metropolitan areas:

• Top 5 leading metro globally for growth of digital infrastructure according to GXI 2023
• 10th most sustainable city in the world according to Arcadis Sustainable Cities index 2022
• 2nd most attractive European city for investment according to fDi's European Cities and Regions of the Future 22/23 
• #1 city for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace according to Open For Business 2022 

See how Amsterdam compares in the full list of international rankings.

Attracting global talent

To turn innovative ideas into reality, businesses can count on a steady supply of skilled talent. Alongside a highly educated local workforce, various incentives and visa schemes make international recruitment easy. People from all over the world are attracted to the high quality of life found throughout the region. In fact, the Netherlands ranked #1 for quality of life in 2023.

The Dutch capital has become a magnet for tech talent, boasting a talent pool of over 250,000 tech professionals. Its growing and active community of tech lovers are from all backgrounds, whether founders, UXers, growth hackers or developers. Amsterdam's high rate of English fluency means that internationals can assimilate easily. The city is also home to Europe's only fully English speaking court, highlighting the ease of doing worldwide business in Amsterdam.

Connections are quick and convenient

With its small scale and welcoming international culture, connections are quickly made at home and abroad. There are currently more than 3500 international companies in the Amsterdam Area, plus almost 2,000 startups and scale-ups. Convenient connections by land, water and air – as well as super fast internet speeds – make the region a prime location in Europe for businesses to sustainably extend their reach. With this, Amsterdam is one of the world’s largest internet hubs. With a network of high-speed trains to European cities as well as the 327 destinations served by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, which is itself just a 15-minute train ride from the city centre, the possibilities are endless.