Tourism in the Netherlands is a relatively small sector of the country's economy with a total contribution of 5.4% to gross domestic product and 9.6% to employment. In 2017 the Netherlands was visited by 17 million foreign tourists (with more than 5 million coming from Germany), making it the 20th most visited country in the world. [1] [2] [3]
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Most visitors staying in all forms of accommodation in the Netherlands on short-term basis are from the following countries of nationality with the majority of tourists coming from within Europe itself. [6] [7]
| Rank | Country | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany | 5,190,000 | 4,628,000 | 4,283,000 | 3,894,000 | 3,495,000 |
| 2 |  Belgium | 2,240,000 | 2,124,000 | 1,965,000 | 1,828,000 | 1,673,000 |
| 3 |  France | 2,240,000 | 2,084,000 | 1,750,000 | 1,725,000 | 1,680,000 |
| 4 |  United Kingdom | 2,195,000 | 2,043,000 | 1,967,001 | 1,857,000 | 1,680,000 |
| 5 |  Italy | 565,000 | 525,000 | 543,000 | 503,000 | 461,000 |
| 6 |  Spain | 445,000 | 445,000 | 432,000 | 396,000 | 395,000 |
| 7 |  Switzerland | 285,000 | 264,000 | 271,000 | 256,000 | 231,000 |
| 8 |  Russia | 175,000 | 130,000 | 152,000 | 196,000 | 203,000 |
| 9 |  Sweden | 160,000 | 156,000 | 154,000 | 142,000 | 142,000 |
| 10 |  Denmark | 160,000 | 144,000 | 155,000 | 141,000 | 144,000 |
| 11 |  Norway | 125,000 | 115,000 | 132,000 | 125,000 | 127,000 |
| Total foreign | 17,610,000 | 15,834,000 | 15,007,000 | 13,925,000 | 12,783,000 | |
In 2017, the United States (1,414,000 tourists, a 20% growth from the 1,182,000 Americans who visited in 2016), China (364,000 tourists, a 22% growth from the 297,000 of 2016), and Canada (180,000 tourists, a 16% growth from the 155,000 Canadians tourists of 2016) are the major non-European homelands of international tourists coming to the Netherlands. The total of foreign tourists visiting the Netherlands in 2017 was 17,924,000, a 13% growth from the 15,829,000 foreign people who visited the country in 2016.
