Netherlands Economy

On the Index of Economic Freedom, the Netherlands is the 13th most laissez-faire capitalist economy out of 157 surveyed countries. At the time of writing the Netherlands is the 16th largest economy of the world. Between 1998 and 2000 annual economic growth averaged nearly 4%, well above the European average. Growth slowed considerably in 2001-05 as part of the global economic slowdown. 2006 however, showed a promising 2.9% growth. Yearly growth accelerated to 4.2% in the third quarter of 2007. Inflation is 1.3% and is expected to stay low at about 1.5% in the coming years. The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, the OECD and the World Trade Organization