This is a bit dry, I am aware of that. Still, it should prove to be interesting to put a couple of countries together to see where the Netherlands stand on an international scale.
Source: OECD in Figures - 1998 edition; ©1998. Published with the OECD Observer, no. 212, June/July 1998

Demography
Country	Total area x103sq. km.	Population					Age structure
		Thousands		Per sq. km. 1996	growth rate %		Under 15		15-64		>65
		1996	1986		1996/95	1979/78	1996	1960	1996	1960	1996	1960
Netherlands	41	15,494	14,572	380	0.2	0.7	18.4	30.0	68.3	61.0	13.3	9.0
Belgium	31	10,157	9,862	333	0.2	0.1	17.91	23.5	66.01	64.5	16.11	12.0
France	549	58,380	55,547	106	0.4	0.4	19.3	26.4	65.4	62.0	15.3	11.3
Germany	357	81,877	61,0662	229	0.3	0.12	15.92	21.32	68.21	67.82	15.81	10.82
Japan	378	125,864	121,490	333	0.2	0.8	15.91	30.1	69.41	63.9	14.51	6.1
United Kingdom	245	58,782	56,852	240	0.3	0.1	19.3	23.3	64.9	64.9	15.7	11.7
USA	9,373	265,557	240,651	28	0.9	1.1	21.7	31.0	65.5	59.7	12.8	9.2

1.) 1995
2.) Ex-FRG only (FRG= Free republic of Germany= DDR)

Personal interpretation:
The European countries listed, and Japan, are densely populated compared to the USA, with the Netherlands topping all. Another striking figure is birth rate of the population in the USA is higher than the other countries listed, which is also illustrated by the higher % of people aging under 15, although not enough to stop the general aging of the global population.

back to top

Education
Country	Population with at least upper secondary education (25-64 year-olds) %	Current upper secondary graduation rate3 %	Population with at least higher education (25-64 year-olds) %	First-time university grad. rate4 %
Netherlands	61.2	80.0	...	19.05
Belgium	53.5	...	24.6	...
France	68.4	87.3	18.6	...
Germany	83.7	88.0	22.6	15.75
Japan	...	94.1	...	23.16
United Kingdom	75.9	...	21.5	30.96
USA	85.8	75.8	33.3	32.06

... no data
3.) First educational programs
4.) Short and long first university degree programs combined
5.) Mostly long university programs
6.) Mostly short university programs

Personal interpretation:
Honestly, these figures are hard to compare. There is a difference in short and long university programs, as the short program will grant a bachelor-ship and the long- a master degree. Astonishing is the portion of Dutch and Belgian population that only has upper secondary education. This must be an inheritance from earlier this century when the respective society didn't value education as much as it does now.

back to top

Health
Country	Total fertility rate7		Infant mortality of live births %		Life expectancy at birth (yrs.)
					Women		Men
	1996	1986	1996	1986	1996	1986	1996	1986
Netherlands	1.52	1.55	0.52	0.77	80.4	79.6	74.7	73.1
Belgium	1.55	1.54	0.708	0.96	80.2	77.7	73.5	70.9
France	1.72	1.84	0.49	0.80	81.9	79.7	74.0	71.5
Germany	1.26	1.35	0.50	0.86	79.9	78.3	73.6	71.8
Japan	1.41	1.72	0.38	0.52	83.3	80.9	77.0	75.2
United Kingdom	1.70	1.78	0.628	0.95	79.3	77.6	74.4	71.9
USA	2.06	1.84	0.808	1.04	79.4	78.2	72.7	71.2

7.) Average number of children for a woman aged 15-44
8.) 1995

Personal interpretation:
The world's getting "older". Like in the first table (Demography) the USA are comparatively younger than the other countries in the table. This is illustrated by fertility rate (in contrary to general tendency fertility rate has risen in the measured decade) and life expectancy even, as averagely people in the USA tend to live a tad shorter than in the other countries listed. Health care has made infant mortality drop, contributing to fertility rate and population growth. The Germans apparently, don't like to get children anymore as their fertility rate is lowest. The Dutch, with their low fertility rate and population growth of 0.2 (Demography) will, as a society age rapidly.

back to top

Aid
Country	ODA9million $	ODA as % of GNP	Share in total OECD ODA 1995/96 %	Annual av. Change % in volume 1990/91-1995/96
Netherlands	3,246	0.81	5.7	0.5
Belgium	913	0.34	1.7	-2.6
France	7,451	0.48	13.9	-2.2
Germany	7,601	0.33	13.2	-2.2
Japan	9,439	0.20	20.9	-3.6
United Kingdom	3,199	0.27	5.6	1.1
USA	9,377	0.12	14.6	-8.0

9.) Official Development Assistance

Personal interpretation:
How can it be that such a small country like the Netherlands is prepared to contribute so disproportionally more on Development Aid than the major, much more powerful economies of OECD member states? Just take a look at the third column: % of GNP. US cutback it dramatic, while the Netherlands even raised theirs. Go hide and be ashamed!

back to top

Environment I
Country	Land				Forest			Threatened species		Water
	Total area 1,000 km2	Major protected areas10	Nitrogenous fertilizers usea	Pesticides useb	Wooded area % of land area	Use of forest resources harvest/ann. growth	Tropical wood imports11	Mammals % of known species	Birds % of known species	Water withdrawal % of gross annual availability	Total fish catches % of world catches	Waste water plants % of national population served
Netherlands	42	11.5	37	1.1	9	0.4	17.7	16	27	9	0.5	9.6
Belgium	31	2.6	1812	1.1	20	1.0	12.112	32	28	43	...	27
France	552	11.6	12	0.4	27	0.6	8.6	20	15	21	0.6	77
Germany	357	26.4	15	0.3	30	...	2.5	40	40	25	0.3	89
Japan	378	6.8	12	1.4	67	0.3	21.5	8	8	21	6.5	50
United Kingdom	245	19.8	23	0.613	10	0.5	4.0	2213	2313	1414	1.0	8613
USA	9,364	18.9	6	0.2	33	0.6	1.5	11	7	19	5.7	71

... no data
10.) IUCN categories I-VI
% of total area
11.) Total imports of cork and wood from non-OECD tropical countries
$ per capita
12.) Belgium and Luxembourg
13.) Great Britain
14.) England and Wales
a.) Tonnes per sq. km. of arable land
b.) Tonnes per sq. km. of arable land

Personal interpretation:
Economic policy and population density always put pressure on the environment. This can be seen clearly from Dutch, Japanese and Belgian figures. As people are crammed together in a narrow confinement, not much room is left to preserve that's what left of nature. Next to that, Dutch bio-industry puts another strain on the environment by means of very high amounts of fertilizers and pesticides. Green houses and pig/poultry farms particularly demand lots of the environment. The first in the form of pesticides, the second by the huge piles of excrements that have to be disposed of.
Let's see what amounts of waste are actually generated...

back to top

Environment II
Country	Air			Waste generated			Pollution abatement and control
	Sulphur oxides kg./capita	Nitrogen oxides kg./capita	CO215 tonnes/capita	Industrial waste/unit GDPc	Municipal waste kg./capita	Nuclear waste16/unit of energy tonnes per Mtoe	Total expenditure17 % of GDP	Total investments (%)d
Netherlands	10	35	12	30	580	0.2	1.9	3.1
Belgium	24	33	12	75	470	2.3	...	...
France	17	26	6	101	560	5.0	1.4	2.0
Germany	37	27	11	48	40018	1.4	1.419	2.819
Japan	7	12	9	61	400	1.8	1.6	3.0
United Kingdom	40	39	10	59	490	7.7	1.0	1.3
USA	63	75	20	...	720	1.0	1.6	3.6

... no data
15.) From energy use only
16.) Wastes from spent fuel in nuclear power plants, in tonnes of heavy metal per million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) (primary energy supply)
17.) Household expenditure excluded
18.) Excludes separate collection by the private sector
19.) Ex-FRG (DDR) only
c.) Tonnes/million $
d.) % of national investment

Personal interpretation:
When it comes to environmentalism, Japan takes the cake. Any kind of waste produced is lowest (even per capita) compared to all other countries in the table.
The USA indeed likes to toss away scrap papers, wrappings and such. Or, is it the other way round? All things for households are wrapped and wrapped again, and yet again like a bunch of babushka dolls: any item that can contain something is contained by something larger. That attitude leaves room for improvement. Remarkable is the low amount of Nuclear Waste in the Netherlands. Almost the entire population (8 out of 10) is against nuclear energy.

back to top

Employment
Country	Total labour force				Unemployment rates20
	Thousands 1996	Change since 1986 %	Female participation rate %21		Both sexes		Women % of tot. female labour force		Men % of total male labour force
			1996	1986	1996	1986	1996	1986	1996	1986
Netherlands	7,516	28.2	58.3	41.3	6.5	10.3	8.4	12.8	5.2	9.0
Belgium	4,92722	4.523	56.122	49.9	12.922	11.6	17.222	16.9	9.722	8.1
France	25,613	6.7	59.9	55.1	12.3	10.4	14.5	13.1	10.6	8.4
Germany	39,294	34.624	61.022	53.824	9.0	7.624	10.2	9.024	8.1	6.824
Japan	67,110	11.5	62.222	57.4	3.4	2.8	3.3	2.8	3.4	2.7
United Kingdom	28,552	2.7	66.4	61.3	8.2	11.6	6.3	8.9	9.7	13.5
USA	135,231	13.1	71.0	65.1	5.3	6.9	5.4	7.0	5.3	6.7

20.) National definitions
21.) Defined as female labour-force of all ages divided by female population aged 15 - 64
22.) 1995
23.) 1984-94
24.) Ex FRG (DDR) only

Personal interpretation:
The Netherlands are lagging severely behind when it comes to female participation on the job-market. This is the result of women leaving their positions as soon as children are due, not re-entering it after the children are ready for school. This leaves ample room for improvement, and puts me to shame, to be honest. On the other hand, the 'famed' Poldermodel bears fruit. The job market has seen a considerable improvement over the last decade. A funny thing though is that the same has occurred in the USA, although economic policies between the two countries differ considerably.

back to top

National Product
Country	Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (at market prices)						Trade balance % GDP at current prices
	At current prices and Ex.rates - Billion $		Av. Annual volume change %		Per capita at current prices - $ 1996
	1996	1997	96-86	97-96	Using current ex.rates	Using current PPPs25
Netherlands	396.0	362.9	2.7	3.2	25,511	20,905	6.4
Belgium	268.2	242.5	2.1	2.4	26,409	21,856	4.7
France	1,536.6	1,393.8	1.9	2.3	26,323	20,533	2.6
Germany	2,353.5	2,115.4	2.2	2.4	28,738	21,200	1.2
Japan	4,595.2	4,223.4	3.1	0.5	36,509	23,235	0.5
United Kingdom	1,153.4	1,278.4	2.1	3.4	19,621	18,636	-0.8
USA	7,388.1	7,819.3	2.4	3.8	27,821	27,821	-1.6

25.) Purchasing Power Parities; (eliminates price differences between countries).

Personal interpretation:
Low wages generally make good trade balances, as can be seen in Dutch figures. Put next to that the relative high taxes (not in table) and, how rich is Holland, then eh? I hate it to see that we are underpayed compared to the other countries. I knew it! I knew it! :)

To the Fact Sheet