The Netherlands' four largest cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague are among the municipalities with the top 10 highest starter to total company ratios in the country, according to the latest figures from Statistics Netherlands.
In addition to the four major cities, there are also smaller municipalities in the top 10, such as Beesel and Westervoort. These municipalities saw not only the formation of many new companies, but also the termination of many existing ones.
According to CBS, Rotterdam and The Hague did not rank in the top 10 for net starter growth, even though they had high starter ratios, due to turbulence in the number of starting and terminated companies in other municipalities.
Not surprisingly, densely populated areas often have the highest number of starters, and according to the most recent data (2011), Amsterdam had the highest starters per capita in the nation.
Most new businesses established in 2011 are in the sectors business services, construction, and trade. There is no clear regional concentration of these types of businesses.
On the other hand, the presence of the technology universities in Delft, Eindhoven, and Enschede attracts many high-tech companies, and the share of starters in the high-tech sector in these municipalities is 9 percent, compared to the national average of 5 percent.
Also, the business of culture is clearly concentrated in Amsterdam and Utrecht, where the number of starters in the cultural sector is twice the national average. Almost 25 percent of all starters in this sector are located in these two municipalities.