Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Netherlands
Netherlands: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 7.9% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% 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
The most recent figure for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Netherlands is 7.9%, measured in 2021.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and up 6.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Netherlands peaked at 8.7% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 4.8%, in 1987.
That places Netherlands 96th out of 120 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Netherlands, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 6.2% | — |
| 1987 | 4.8% | -22.6% |
| 1990 | 6.9% | +43.8% |
| 1993 | 8.6% | +24.6% |
| 1999 | 6.1% | -29.1% |
| 2004 | 8.6% | +40.8% |
| 2005 | 7.8% | -8.9% |
| 2006 | 7.8% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 7.7% | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 8.4% | +8.8% |
| 2009 | 8.0% | -5.2% |
| 2010 | 8.5% | +5.9% |
| 2011 | 7.4% | -12.0% |
| 2012 | 7.9% | +6.1% |
| 2013 | 8.2% | +4.5% |
| 2014 | 7.9% | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 7.9% | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 8.5% | +7.1% |
| 2017 | 7.8% | -7.6% |
| 2018 | 8.1% | +3.1% |
| 2019 | 8.7% | +7.3% |
| 2020 | 8.0% | -8.3% |
| 2021 | 7.9% | -0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5.5% | 4.8% | 6.2% | 2 |
| 1990s | 7.2% | 6.1% | 8.6% | 3 |
| 2000s | 8.1% | 7.7% | 8.6% | 6 |
| 2010s | 8.1% | 7.4% | 8.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.0% | 7.9% | 8.0% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
- 93 Taiwan, China 8.2% compare
- 94 Rwanda 8.1% compare
- 95 Lao People's Democratic Republic 8.1% compare
- 97 Syrian Arab Republic 7.9% compare
- 98 Nepal 7.9% compare
- 99 Pakistan 7.6% compare
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 50% of the median in Netherlands?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Netherlands was 7.9% 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 50% of the median recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 8.7% in 2019.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.8% in 1987.
- How does Netherlands rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Netherlands ranks 96th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.8%. 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 50% 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 50% of the median.