Netherlands leads world in scientific output per researcher, ranking high in citation impact

New data from the Rathenau Institute show that the Netherlands outperforms all countries when scientific output is measured per hundred full-time research positions, delivering 143 papers, well above the United States (119) and China (67). In absolute terms, Dutch output remains modest compared with China, the United States or the United Kingdom. Citation analysis reveals that 17% of Dutch articles belong to the top-10% most cited globally, putting the country fourth in impact scores.

The Netherlands leads in social sciences, agricultural science and health sciences, while it ranks seventh in engineering, still above the world average. The strong performance is linked to sustained public investment, including renewed funding from the National Growth Fund under the Jetten cabinet.