Service exporters have the highest percentage of female directors in the Netherlands

In 2021, women comprised 16 percent of directors at exporting firms. This continued the slight increase of recent years compared with 2015, when 14.4 percent of directors in the Netherlands were women. Firms exporting services have the highest share of women on their Board of directors. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of its latest edition of the Internationalisation Monitor.
Of nearly 63 thousand public and private limited companies established in the Netherlands with at least 10 employees, nearly half (31.5 thousand firms) exported goods and/or services. Service exporters employ relatively high numbers of female directors; 17.7 percent of the board positions in 2021 were occupied by women. Among businesses exporting goods, this share was lower at 14.9 percent. The manufacturing sector, which focuses mainly on the export of goods, employs proportionately many men, while women are somewhat better represented in the sectors that mainly export services (commercial services).

Boards of retail firms have the highest female representation

Among the top 10 sectors with the largest number of exporting firms, the share of female directors in their Board of Directors is highest in retail, with 31 percent meeting the standard of achieving at least one-third female representation on their Board of Directors. The share is lowest in the IT and information services, basic metal manufacturing, and the car trade and repair sectors.

Businesses with at least one-third of female directors less likely to export abroad

Among businesses active in international trade, those with exclusively male directors export more frequently, on average, than those with boards consisting of at least one-third of women. Forty-five percent of firms with boards consisting entirely or partly of women exported to other countries, compared to 51 percent of firms with male-only boards. The largest difference is seen in the trade in goods: 24 percent of firms without female directors are exporting goods, compared with 20 percent of firms with at least one-third female directors. In services trade, the difference between the two groups is only 1 percentage point, with 17 percent and 15 percent of firms exporting both goods and services, respectively.

Export value is the highest at firms with one or more female directors

Firms with at least one-third female directors achieve significantly higher export values than those with only men on their Board of Directors. For example, the export value of goods is 31 percent higher at firms with one or more female directors, and for service exports, the difference is as much as 93 percent. These figures have not been adjusted for type of sector, size of business or other factors that may (partly) explain the differences. The Internationalisation Monitor further examines the relationship between women in top management teams of Dutch firms and their exports activities.

Source: Statistics Netherlands
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