Economic development refers to the process of creating wealth to ensure community benefits are realized. It goes beyond establishing job programs to effective investment and growth of an economy, enhancing the prosperity and quality of life for all residents. In other words, anything that a community does to establish and foster a healthy economy falls under the auspice of economic development. This implies that economic growth has to focus on policies and the public. When economic development is viewed from a public perspective, it involves the uniform allocation of the limited resources such as entrepreneurship, labor, capital, and land, to enhance positive outcomes on the levels of fiscal solvency, income distribution patterns, employment, and general business activities. Therefore, economic development is a thoughtful intervention in normal economic growth by making it more attractive. Given the rapidly increasing economic demands for sustainability in the Dutch, corporate sustainable governance and responsible investing can be integrated with social and environmental policies to ensure progressive economic growth at all times. s
In the Netherlands, economic development is evident in many ways, which can be ascertained by analyzing various economic indicators. Examples of economic indicators used in evaluating an economy's status include the gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), Gross national product per capita, economic growth, inequality of wealth, inflation, demographics, and unemployment rates. The GDP shows the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year. It is noted that the economy of the Netherlands stood in the seventeenth position worldwide concerning the GDP. The GDP per capita has been approximated to be $57,101 within the fiscal year 2019/ 2020 (OECD, 2018) . Such a GDP per capita capacity makes the Netherlands one of the highest-earning nations worldwide. The Netherlands realized a high annual economic growth of 4% between the years 1996 and 2000. This annual economic growth was higher than the average GDP growth of 2.5% experienced by the European (International Monetary Fund. European Dept, 2019) . However, it is noted that between the years 2001 to 2005, the Netherlands' economic growth slowed down considerably due to the global economic slowdown. The progressive years experienced economic growth of between 3-4% until 2007-2008 when the Netherlands' economy was affected by the financial crisis.
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Various natural resources in the Netherlands are being used by the government to create wealth, thus contributing to more revenues used in sustaining economic development. First, it is noted that since 1959, the Netherlands has had an ongoing natural gas supply. Currently, the Netherlands supplies more than 25% of the European Union's total natural gas reserve (Badir Martijn, 2017) . Natural gas sales generate substantial revenue used to create wealth and implement sustainable development in the Netherlands. The economy of the Netherlands is open, making it excel in foreign trade. Besides, the Dutch’s economy is marked by stable industrial relations, which has led to a reduction in unemployment and inflation rates. Most of the industrial activities in the Netherlands fall under the categories of food processing, electrical machinery, creative sector, financial services, high-tech, and petroleum refining (Martijn Badir, 2017).
The agricultural sector in the Netherlands is highly mechanized and requires less than 2% of the labor supply. The Netherlands provides a high supply of food processing industry for exports at low production costs. During the summer of 2011, the unemployment rates of the Netherlands sharply increased to 7.3% compared to the previous 5.0% rates (International Monetary Fund. European Dept, 2019) . In 2015, the unemployment rates increased from 7.3% to 6.8% and sharply dropped to 3.9% in 2018 (International Monetary Fund. European Dept, 2019). It is observed that in the year 2016, the Netherlands' state budget showed a 0.4% surplus, which was improved to 1.0% in 2017. Both the Netherlands government and the private sector play vital roles in the establishment of sustainable economic development. Notably, the public expenditure exclusive of the social security transfer stood at 28% of the Netherlands GDP in the year 2011.
On the other hand, the revenue generated from government taxation was 38.7% of the total GDP in 2010. The Netherlands has used such government revenues to create more wealth and ensure sustainable economic development. Besides the government's spending, the Netherlands government also contributes to sustainable economic development through regulations and permit requirements related to economic activities. By implication, the government combines microeconomic policies with structural regulatory reforms to improve sustainable economic growth.
Regarding the demography of the Netherlands, as of December 2020, it was reported that the total population was 17,474,677 ( Taylor et al., 2017) . This total population makes the Netherlands the sixteenth most densely populated country worldwide and the fifth in Europe. The Netherlands has a population density of 521 persons per square kilometer. The Dutch’s population is aging. Besides, due to improvement in the healthcare services in the Netherlands, life expectancy has increased. Again, the population of the Netherlands has continued to rise due to increased immigration rates. However, it is noted that the country experiences low birth rates, which consequently results in low population growth, with the year 2005 showing the lowest absolute population growth rates since 1900 (Paridon v an , 2018). Demographic developments often have related consequences on policies such as healthcare and social security. As the population continues to age, there are few people left in the working age. As such, it becomes difficult to pay for old-age pensions. Thus, in the Netherlands' case, the aging population's increase will negatively impact sustainable economic growth.
Using a population pyramid to analyze the Netherlands' demography, it is observed that females have a higher life expectance (83.8) years compared to that of males (80.4) ( Taylor et al., 2017) . Besides, the female is more in number than the males. The age structure of the Netherlands illustrates that the population of males is higher than that of females in the early ages, between 0-54 years. However, starting from 54 years and above, the number of females is higher than that of males, indicating that males have a shorter life expectancy than females in the Dutch. Evidently, in a population where the aging population is high, sustainable development maintenance becomes a challenge. The aging population lowers labor-force contributions and saving rates, which consequently lower sustainable economic growth.
Nonetheless, the Netherlands' population pyramid shows that the young between the ages of 0-14 years make up 16.1% of the total population. The middle-aged between 15-64 years makes up 64.1%, and the elderly of 65 years over makes 19.8% (OECD, 2018). Despite the rise in the aging population, middle-age still occupies the highest percentage, and the Netherlands has higher potentials to get the required labor-services ( Cristea et al., 2020). Due to low birth rates in the Dutch, there is an expected slowdown in population growth. An economy's long-run growth is dependent on factors such as structural productivity growth and the rate of labor-force growth. In the Netherlands' case, an increasingly aging population and reduced birth rates will reduce sustainability in the economic growth.
The location of the Netherlands also plays a vital role in its economic development. For instance, the Netherlands is bordered by the North Sea both to the west and the north. The North Sea has the port of Rotterdam that connects the Netherlands to other idyllic harbor towns such as Brouwershaven. Both tourism and trade are increased in the Netherlands due to its location near the sea, leading to an increase in revenues used in fastening the economic growth. In conclusion, the Dutch have achieved great sustainability in their economic development.
References
Cristea, M., Noja, G. G., Stefea, P., & Sala, A. L. (2020). The impact of population aging and public health support on EU labor markets. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 17 (4), 1439. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041439
International Monetary Fund. European Dept. (2019, February 8). The kingdom of the Netherlands-Netherlands . IMF Staff Country Reports. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484398517.002
Martijn Badir. (2017, November 2). The Netherlands: Economic growth remains high . RaboResearch - Economic Research. https://economics.rabobank.com/publications/2017/november/the-netherlands-economic-growth-remains-high/
OECD. (2018, January 31). OECD iLibrary | OECD economic surveys: Netherlands 2008 . economic surveys: Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1787/eco_surveys-nld-2008-en
Taylor, P., Martinez-Fernandez, C., Verwest, F., van Wissen, L., Weyman, T., Cörvers, F., ... & van Thor, J. (2017). Demographic Change in the Netherlands: Strategies for Resilient Labour Markets. https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/191095
Van Paridon, K. (n.d.). Growth, jobs and structural reform in The Netherlands. 50 Years of EU Economic Dynamics , 209-217. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74055-1_13
