The Netherlands, which derives more than two-thirds of GDP from merchandise trade, had strongly positive balance of payments for 2005 estimated at €31.5 billion. [link cbs] Leading export markets (2005) are Germany with 25.1%, Belgium with 12.2% and the United Kingdom and France with both 9.4%. Leading suppliers (2004) are Germany (17%), Belgium (9.4%), China (8.8%) and the United States (7.8%). As becomes clear from these figures, Germany is by far the most important trading partner of The Netherlands.
Leading foreign investors in the Netherlands (2005) are the United States with 18.5%, the United Kingdom (14.1%), Germany (12.0%) and Belgium (10.1%).
While its oil reserves in the North Sea are of little importance, the Netherlands is presently the second-greatest natural gas producer in the European Union and the ninth-greatest in the world, accounting for more than 30% of EU total annual gas production and about 2.7% of the annual world total. Proven natural gas reserves of the Netherlands are estimated (as of January 2005) at about 50-60 trillion cubic feet, or about 0.9% of the world total. Although the Netherlands owns substantial gas reserves in the North Sea, most of its production is presently from on-shore wells, and much of the natural gas produced by the Netherlands comes from Groningen Province, which borders the North Sea. Consumption of natural gas in the Netherlands is only about two-thirds of its production; the rest is exported and the Netherlands is presently the world's fifth-greatest natural gas exporter. Partly as a result of this large reserve of natural gas, nuclear power accounts for only 3.8% of the country’s electricity production.