What does Netherlands produce and export?
Netherlands ranks in the top ten producers of 1 commodity: cheese (#5, 4.3% of world output in 2023). It is a top-ten exporter of eggs (#1, 17% of world export value in 2024), orange juice (#2, 13% of world export value in 2024), potatoes (#2, 17% of world export value in 2024), tomatoes (#2, 15% of world export value in 2024), avocados (#3, 6.7% of world export value in 2024) and more.
Rotterdam is the deepest seaport in northern Europe and sits at the mouth of a river that reaches the German industrial belt by barge. That geography, and the terminals built out into the North Sea to use it, decides what appears in Dutch trade statistics. Iron ore unloaded at the Maasvlakte is not smelted in the Netherlands; it goes up the Rhine to mills in the Ruhr, but it clears customs on arrival, which is why the country took 1.9% of world iron ore import value in 2024 (CEPII BACI). The same is true of energy: the Netherlands bought 4.1% of world crude oil import value in 2024 (CEPII BACI) for refineries whose products are priced off the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp market that sets European gasoil and gasoline benchmarks.
Cocoa is the oldest version of the trade and the most concentrated. Grinding has been done in the Zaan district north of Amsterdam since the seventeenth century, when windmills powered the mills, and the Dutch invention of the cocoa press in 1828 created cocoa powder and the alkalizing process still called Dutching. The cluster never left. The Netherlands bought 22% of world cocoa import value in 2024 (CEPII BACI), the largest share of any country, and shipped out 3.7% of world cocoa export value in the same year, the difference leaving as butter, liquor and powder rather than beans. Tank farms in the Botlek do the same for tropical oils, taking 3.5% of world palm oil import value in 2024 (CEPII BACI) and re-exporting 2.2% of world palm-oil export value after refining and fractionation. Coffee follows the pattern at 2.7% of world coffee import value in 2024 (CEPII BACI).
Gas is the one commodity the country genuinely had. Groningen, found in 1959, was the largest gas field in Europe and supplied Dutch and neighboring homes for sixty years, but extraction caused earthquakes above it and production was stopped in 2023. What survives is the market rather than the molecules: the virtual trading point known as TTF is where European gas is priced, and the country imported 3.7% of world natural gas import value in 2024 (CEPII BACI) through pipelines and terminals it once had no need of.
What does Netherlands produce?
| Commodity | World rank | Share of world | Production | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese | 5 | 4.3% | 989,810 t | 2023 | FAOSTAT |
What does Netherlands export?
| Rank | Country | Export value (US$) | Share of world |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eggs | $992.8 million | 17% |
| 2 | orange-juice | $248.4 million | 13% |
| 2 | potatoes | $1.2 billion | 17% |
| 2 | tomatoes | $1.8 billion | 15% |
| 3 | avocados | $633.2 million | 6.7% |
| 3 | cheese | $5.6 billion | 13% |
| 3 | milk | $2 billion | 9.1% |
| 3 | palm-oil | $967 million | 2.2% |
| 3 | pineapples | $105.3 million | 3.7% |
| 4 | chicken | $2.7 billion | 7.6% |
| Rest of world | $0 | <0.1% |
| Commodity | World rank | Share of world exports | Export value | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 1 | 17% | $992.8 million | 2024 |
| Orange juice | 2 | 13% | $248.4 million | 2024 |
| Potatoes | 2 | 17% | $1.2 billion | 2024 |
| Tomatoes | 2 | 15% | $1.8 billion | 2024 |
| Avocados | 3 | 6.7% | $633.2 million | 2024 |
| Cheese | 3 | 13% | $5.6 billion | 2024 |
| Milk | 3 | 9.1% | $2 billion | 2024 |
| Palm oil | 3 | 2.2% | $967 million | 2024 |
| Pineapples | 3 | 3.7% | $105.3 million | 2024 |
| Chicken | 4 | 7.6% | $2.7 billion | 2024 |
| Coconut oil | 4 | 6.2% | $490.4 million | 2024 |
| Molybdenum | 4 | 11% | $858.1 million | 2024 |
| Plantains | 4 | 6.2% | $69 million | 2024 |
| Quinoa | 4 | 2.8% | $8.2 million | 2024 |
| Sunflower oil | 4 | 5.8% | $1.1 billion | 2024 |
| Cinnamon | 5 | 1.8% | $15.3 million | 2024 |
| Mangoes | 5 | 4.4% | $184.7 million | 2024 |
| Vanilla | 5 | 3.6% | $16.8 million | 2024 |
| Almonds | 6 | 1.8% | $95 million | 2024 |
| Bananas | 6 | 2.5% | $391.2 million | 2024 |
| Cardamom | 6 | 1.7% | $21.5 million | 2024 |
| Ginger | 6 | 4.9% | $63.3 million | 2024 |
| Palm kernel oil | 6 | 6.3% | $67.9 million | 2024 |
| Cocoa | 7 | 3.7% | $694.8 million | 2024 |
| Lamb | 7 | 2.3% | $206.5 million | 2024 |
| Nickel | 7 | 5.7% | $822.1 million | 2024 |
| Peanuts | 7 | 4.5% | $209.4 million | 2024 |
| Pork | 7 | 7.6% | $2.8 billion | 2024 |
| Uranium | 7 | <0.1% | $32,984 | 2024 |
| Zinc | 7 | 5.8% | $854.3 million | 2024 |
| Aluminum | 8 | 4.6% | $3.6 billion | 2024 |
| Cloves | 8 | 0.7% | $4.3 million | 2024 |
| Hazelnuts | 8 | 1% | $23.7 million | 2024 |
| Linseed | 8 | 2% | $25.1 million | 2024 |
| Lithium | 8 | 0.5% | $18.7 million | 2024 |
| Sisal | 8 | 2.5% | $17.4 million | 2024 |
| Cassava | 9 | 3.3% | $112.8 million | 2024 |
| Pistachios | 9 | 0.6% | $19 million | 2024 |
| Apples | 10 | 1.8% | $149 million | 2024 |
| Jute | 10 | 0.4% | $903,292 | 2024 |
| Oranges | 10 | 2.5% | $136.5 million | 2024 |
| Phosphate fertilizers | 10 | 1.1% | $39.2 million | 2024 |
| Phosphate rock | 10 | 2.4% | $126.6 million | 2024 |
| Rare earths | 10 | 1.1% | $12.5 million | 2024 |
| Soybeans | 10 | 0.3% | $277.1 million | 2024 |
Top-ten importer of
- Cocoa: #1, 22% of world imports, $4.1 billion (2024)
- Ginger: #1, 13% of world imports, $166.3 million (2024)
- Orange juice: #1, 28% of world imports, $515.6 million (2024)
- Palm kernel oil: #1, 17% of world imports, $188.1 million (2024)
- Avocados: #2, 13% of world imports, $1.2 billion (2024)
- Eggs: #2, 7.6% of world imports, $451 million (2024)
- Grapes: #2, 9.5% of world imports, $1.2 billion (2024)
- Nickel: #2, 13% of world imports, $1.8 billion (2024)
- Peanuts: #2, 12% of world imports, $576 million (2024)
- Potatoes: #2, 8.7% of world imports, $626 million (2024)
- Barley: #3, 6.1% of world imports, $565.8 million (2024)
- Coconut oil: #3, 10% of world imports, $808 million (2024)
- Mangoes: #3, 8.1% of world imports, $336.1 million (2024)
- Molybdenum: #3, 11% of world imports, $901.5 million (2024)
- Oranges: #3, 6.5% of world imports, $354.6 million (2024)
- Phosphate rock: #3, 5.1% of world imports, $267.4 million (2024)
- Pineapples: #3, 5.9% of world imports, $165.5 million (2024)
- Quinoa: #3, 5.7% of world imports, $16.9 million (2024)
- Zinc: #3, 6.8% of world imports, $990.4 million (2024)
- Iron ore: #4, 1.9% of world imports, $3 billion (2024)
- Plantains: #4, 4.2% of world imports, $46 million (2024)
- Salmon: #4, 7.9% of world imports, $1.3 billion (2024)
- Sisal: #4, 5% of world imports, $34.2 million (2024)
- Sunflower oil: #4, 4.9% of world imports, $925 million (2024)
- Tin: #4, 8.3% of world imports, $537.6 million (2024)
- Aluminum: #5, 5.3% of world imports, $4.2 billion (2024)
- Bananas: #5, 5.9% of world imports, $927.2 million (2024)
- Cassava: #5, 5.9% of world imports, $202.9 million (2024)
- Cheese: #5, 5.2% of world imports, $2.3 billion (2024)
- Cobalt: #5, 2.3% of world imports, $109 million (2024)
- Dates: #5, 4.6% of world imports, $113.4 million (2024)
- Lithium: #5, 2.9% of world imports, $110.5 million (2024)
- Milk: #5, 4.2% of world imports, $910.9 million (2024)
- Palm oil: #5, 3.5% of world imports, $1.5 billion (2024)
- Tomatoes: #5, 4.2% of world imports, $511.8 million (2024)
- Vanilla: #5, 4.6% of world imports, $21.5 million (2024)
- Canola: #6, 4.5% of world imports, $599 million (2024)
- Chicken: #6, 4.4% of world imports, $1.6 billion (2024)
- Crude oil: #6, 4.1% of world imports, $54.8 billion (2024)
- Honey: #6, 3.3% of world imports, $76.1 million (2024)
- Linseed: #6, 4.1% of world imports, $51.1 million (2024)
- Plywood: #6, 3.3% of world imports, $560.2 million (2024)
- Coal: #7, 2.7% of world imports, $4.9 billion (2024)
- Lamb: #7, 3.8% of world imports, $341.2 million (2024)
- Oats: #7, 3.1% of world imports, $35.1 million (2024)
- Sawnwood: #7, 3.1% of world imports, $1.2 billion (2024)
- Yams: #7, 3% of world imports, $7.5 million (2024)
- Almonds: #8, 4.7% of world imports, $246.7 million (2024)
- Coffee: #8, 2.7% of world imports, $906.3 million (2024)
- Natural gas: #8, 3.7% of world imports, $17.6 billion (2024)
- Sesame seed: #8, 2.7% of world imports, $211.2 million (2024)
- Cardamom: #9, 2.8% of world imports, $35.1 million (2024)
- Cinnamon: #10, 2% of world imports, $16.4 million (2024)
- Shrimp: #10, 1.9% of world imports, $593 million (2024)
Sources: FAOSTAT (crops and livestock), USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (minerals), Energy Institute Statistical Review (energy) for production; CEPII BACI for trade. Ranks count only the commodities on this site.
Downloads and citation
This country's rankings as JSON. Cite as: Commodity Origins, "What does Netherlands produce and export?", https://commodityorigins.com/countries/NLD/ (CC BY 4.0).
Data updated 6 September 2026.