Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands
Netherlands: Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median was 4.2% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands, 1983–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2021, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands stood at 4.2%.
That represents a change of down 6.2% on the previous year and up 15.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands peaked at 5.8% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 1987.
That places Netherlands 81st out of 120 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 4.7% | — |
| 1987 | 1.7% | -63.8% |
| 1990 | 3.8% | +123.5% |
| 1993 | 5.8% | +52.6% |
| 1999 | 3.0% | -48.3% |
| 2004 | 4.6% | +54.7% |
| 2005 | 3.9% | -16.2% |
| 2006 | 3.4% | -11.8% |
| 2007 | 3.9% | +13.1% |
| 2008 | 4.3% | +10.6% |
| 2009 | 3.8% | -11.0% |
| 2010 | 3.9% | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 3.7% | -6.0% |
| 2012 | 3.7% | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | -2.7% |
| 2014 | 3.8% | +4.2% |
| 2015 | 4.0% | +6.1% |
| 2016 | 4.4% | +9.3% |
| 2017 | 4.3% | -2.3% |
| 2018 | 3.9% | -8.0% |
| 2019 | 4.4% | +13.3% |
| 2020 | 4.5% | +1.6% |
| 2021 | 4.2% | -6.2% |
Netherlands compared with similar countries
- Netherlands's 4.2% is below the median for high income countries, which is 6.5%, 65% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Netherlands's 4.2% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 5.6%, 75% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | +123.5% | 1.7% | 3.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.2% | 1.7% | 4.7% | 2 |
| 1990s | 4.2% | 3.0% | 5.8% | 3 |
| 2000s | 4.0% | 3.4% | 4.6% | 6 |
| 2010s | 4.0% | 3.6% | 4.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.4% | 4.2% | 4.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More poverty & inequality data for Netherlands
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 6 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.43 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 6,806 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -15.77 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 38.53 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 38.5% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Netherlands was 4.2% in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 5.8% in 1993.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 1987.
- How does Netherlands rank for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median?
- Netherlands ranks 81st out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 40% of the median.