UTRECHT - Economy
An extensive services economy
In the province small firms are greatly over-represented compared with the national average. Of a total of approximately 60 000 firms, 85% have fewer than 10 employees. No doubt this is connected with the strong orientation towards the services sector. Business services, and also new, innovative activities are well represented.
Among the firms employing 250 staff or more are banks (AMRO and RABO), insurance companies (Allianz Midden Nederland, AMEV, Goudse Schadeverzekeringen and SNS-Reaal) and foreign firms (Hewlett-Packard and Cap Gemini EY). Since the middle of the 1980s the number of foreign firms has risen sharply to approximately 1100 of which 250 American firms.
Exports, as a proportion of total production, are lower than the Netherlands' average. Nevertheless, due to the presence of both Dutch and foreign international groups, and since goods and services are supplied to export-orientated industrial and commercial sectors elsewhere, the economy may be described as also being internationally orientated.
The gross domestic product in the last five years has grown considerably, markedly more than the national and European averages.
In the agricultural sector, which is somewhat restricted in terms of the number of jobs, the most notable features are the dairy farming in the west of the province and intensive animal production in the east of the region. At the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s the Utrecht industrial sector undertook a thorough restructuring programme. Traditional sectors, such as the large metalworking firms, textiles and the food and luxury goods industries contracted considerably. On the other hand, the emphasis in this sector moved to fast-growing areas, such as informatics, fine chemicals, precision engineering and the manufacture of instruments. There are a number of major firms, such as Douwe Egberts (Sara Lee), Invensys Systems and Lantor International.
The services sector is the mainstay of the regional economy. In particular, business services - banks, insurance companies, consultancies - have grown substantially until 2000. In the ICT sector, with Cap Gemini EY and other firms very prominent in Utrecht, there was explosive growth. The last few years however this growth has come to an end and the employment in this sector has steadily declined. At the moment there are approximately 3000 ICT firms.
The Jaarbeurs congress centre - within walking distance from the station, in the very heart of the city - attracts many international fairs and congresses every year.
The province is served by international rail and road connections and situated within half an hour's journey from the international airport of Schiphol and three-quarters of an hour from the port of Rotterdam. Although connections with Utrecht are basically good, the traffic congestion however has become a serious problem.
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