Market Research Companies in Netherlands

Key figures for researchers

Population

18.15 million (end of June 2026, provisional)¹

Born abroad / second generation

16.8% born abroad, 11.7% born in the Netherlands to a foreign-born parent (1 January 2025)²

Residents with a migration background

The Hague 59.9%, Amsterdam 59.6% (1 January 2024)²

Aged 65 and over

20.9% of the population (2025)³

Daily internet users

95.6% of people aged 12+, 72.6% of those aged 75+ (2025)⁴

Online shoppers

80.4% of people aged 12+ in the last three months (2025)⁴

Foreign languages

92.9% of adults aged 25–64 know at least one foreign language (2022)⁵

Internet users

97.0% of individuals (2024)⁶

Mobile subscriptions

129 per 100 people (2024)⁷

GDP per capita

about US$73,700 (2025)⁸

Research guide

Research landscape

The Netherlands has a mature research industry for its size. Many agencies are based in the Randstad cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, and full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, B2B and healthcare firms, data analytics companies and online panel providers.

The industry body is MOA (Center for Information Based Decision Making and Marketing Research). With two other associations, VBO and VSO, it adopted on 9 June 2022 the Gedragscode voor statistisch onderzoek 2022 (Code of Conduct for Statistical Research), which applies to the Dutch establishments of their members. The code states that using research methods for marketing purposes is explicitly not statistical research.

Languages and fieldwork

Dutch is the fieldwork language for consumer studies. Language skills are high: 92.9% of adults aged 25–64 know at least one foreign language, so some B2B or international respondents can be interviewed in English, but consumer questionnaires should be in Dutch and tested before fieldwork.

The population is diverse: 16.8% of residents were born abroad and a further 11.7% were born in the Netherlands to at least one foreign-born parent. Shares are much higher in the big cities, at 59.9% in The Hague and 59.6% in Amsterdam. Quotas or boosts by origin help when migrant audiences matter, and some groups may need translated questionnaires or bilingual interviewers. The country is also very dense (533 inhabitants per km² in 2024), and all ten most densely populated municipalities are in the Randstad: check that the sample is not over-concentrated there.

Which methods work

Connectivity is very high: 97.0% of individuals use the internet, 95.6% of people aged 12 and over are online every day, and 80.4% shopped online in the last three months. Online surveys using access panels are the main method for consumer and B2B research, and online communities and video interviews are common for qualitative work.

The oldest age groups are less well covered: 72.6% of people aged 75 and over are online daily, and 20.9% of the population is 65 or over. Telephone or face-to-face interviews remain useful for older or offline audiences and some hard-to-reach groups. Under the national research code, respondents must be told in advance about audio or video recording, and recordings are not part of a research report unless the respondent agrees or they are anonymised.

Timing

Summer school holidays are staggered by region (north, central, south). In 2027 they run from 10 July to 22 August in the north, 17 July to 29 August in the central region and 24 July to 5 September in the south. Families and business respondents are harder to reach in this period, so allow more fieldwork time.

Christmas holidays run from 19 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 in all regions: avoid starting fieldwork in late December. Late April and early May are also busy: King’s Day (Tuesday 27 April 2027), the May school holiday (24 April to 2 May 2027) and Liberation Day (5 May). The February spring holiday is a week earlier in the south (13 to 21 February 2027) than in the other regions (20 to 28 February).

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the GDPR (in effect since 25 May 2018) and the Dutch GDPR Implementation Act (Uitvoeringswet AVG, UAVG), supervised by the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), which investigates compliance, handles complaints and can issue fines. Where consent is the legal basis, a child under 16 needs the consent of a parent or legal representative.

The national research code adds strict rules: results are reported only at group level and in anonymous form, identifiable data is passed on only with the respondent’s consent, and special category data (such as health) needs the respondent’s explicit consent. Children aged 12 or under who are not yet in secondary school may only take part under supervision or with a guardian’s consent. Ask your agency how respondents are informed, where the data is hosted and how recordings will be shared.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, regions, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask whether the agency is a member of MOA and follows the Code of Conduct for Statistical Research 2022.
• Ask which panels will be used, how fraud and duplicates are removed, and how quotas by region, age and origin are set and weighted.
• Expect anonymised, group-level results: identifiable respondent data or recordings are shared only with consent.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.