Chip machine maker ASML’s slice of the Dutch economy could hit 2.2% this year, with its network of Dutch suppliers and related investments thrown in.
From its base in Veldhoven, the company builds the machines chipmakers rely on to make advanced computer chips. Just how much the Netherlands leans on it is the subject of a new analysis by ING’s economists, published on October 26.
Who else is cashing in on ASML’s success?
Strip away everyone else and ASML alone should still account for 1.6% of the economy in 2026, BNR reports. The other 0.6 percentage points come from local businesses that keep the company supplied.
Suppliers of parts and services make up 0.4% of that. The final 0.2% comes from investments, where research and development takes the biggest share of the sector’s spending.
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Another unexpected winner? Temp job agencies (uitzendbureaus) sit near the top of the Dutch industries earning money from machinery makers’ purchases.
From 0.1% to 1.6% in three decades
ASML’s own activities added up to a tiny 0.1% of the country’s economy in 1995. That share had climbed to 1.3% by 2025, and ING expects it to reach 1.6% this year.
Last year, the company’s turnover of €33.7 billion was roughly half of what the entire Dutch machinery industry brought in. The sector’s rise rode a series of tech waves, from the AI boom and cloud services to smartphones and the lockdown rush for electronics, the bank explains.
Not that it’s all been smooth sailing for staff: ASML announced 1,700 job cuts earlier this year.
Should the Netherlands be nervous?
Chip demand comes in waves, and ASML’s fortunes follow them. With the company now so big, a downturn in the chip world could weigh more heavily on the Dutch economy, ING cautions.
Then there’s all the politics. Washington’s rules already limit which ASML machines can go to China, and a proposed US law called the Match Act threatens to squeeze Dutch exports even more.
Supply is a weak spot too. Dutch machinery makers lean heavily on parts from abroad, especially Germany, the US, Taiwan and South Korea, so tensions involving those countries risk holding up production.
ASML is far from the only thing powering the Netherlands, though. Pharma and IT services are pulling their weight this decade as well, ING adds.
Did you realise how much the Netherlands relies on one chip company? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!