The number of branches of Belgian companies in the Netherlands has increased by 34 percent in five years. Most Belgian multinationals can be found in Brabant and the west of the province is the frontrunner with 350 branches. This is reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
There are also many Belgian companies in the rest of the province:
- Central Brabant: 125 branches,
- Northeast Brabant: 125 branches,
- Southeast Brabant 215 branches.
The companies are mainly active in:
- wholesale,
- commercial intermediation (brokering),
- retail (shops),
- IT services.
Belgium is in fourth place on the list of foreign multinationals in the Netherlands, behind the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Companies from those countries are mainly located in the Randstad conurbation.
The number of foreign multinationals in the Netherlands increased by almost 15 percent between 2015 and 2020. The increase of Belgian companies by 34 percent (1138 branches to 1528) is therefore much higher. Belgian companies contributed 4.6 billion euros to the Dutch economy, almost twice as much as the 2.5 billion in 2015.
The number of employees at Belgian companies rose nationally from 31,000 to 50,000.