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Netherlands vs Sweden

On research quality in 2022-now, The Netherlands ranks #9 in the world and Sweden #12, of 189 countries. The Netherlands stands higher in 25 of the 26 fields both publish in, Sweden in 1.

Research profiles alike: 0.88very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Netherlands

World rank, 2022-now
#9
#9 all time
Works, 2022-now
191k
fractional
Top-10% rate
14.6%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
48%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Medical Terminology, General Decision Sciences, Structural Biology.

Sweden

World rank, 2022-now
#12
#12 all time
Works, 2022-now
121k
fractional
Top-10% rate
13.6%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
41%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Public Administration, Research and Theory, Equine.

Who leads, measure by measure?

The Netherlands leads on 8 of 9 measures: research quality, excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate, citations per work, institutions in the world top 100, open access and international co-authorship. Sweden leads on 1 of 9 measures: growth.

Netherlands 81 Sweden
  1. #9Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#12
  2. 1.42×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.28×
  3. 191kOutputfractional works, 2022-now121k
  4. 14.6%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited13.6%
  5. 34.1Citations per workall time, per fractional work32.8
  6. 4World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 48%Open accessof its works free to read, all time41%
  8. 29%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time27%
  9. -2%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+1%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Netherlands stands higher in 25 of 26 fields, Sweden in 1. The Netherlands leads most in Chemical Engineering (#11 against #16); Sweden leads most in Mathematics (#11 against #15). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Netherlands 251 Sweden
  1. #9Agricultural and Biological Sciences#12
  2. #8Arts and Humanities#13
  3. #9Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#11
  4. #5Business, Management and Accounting#12
  5. #11Chemical Engineering#16
  6. #13Chemistry#19
  7. #13Computer Science#14
  8. #5Decision Sciences#10
  9. #10Dentistry#14
  10. #8Earth and Planetary Sciences#12
  11. #6Economics, Econometrics and Finance#12
  12. #17Energy#18
  13. #11Engineering#14
  14. #10Environmental Science#11
  15. #8Health Professions#11
  16. #9Immunology and Microbiology#14
  17. #13Materials Science#15
  18. #15Mathematics#11
  19. #6Medicine#10
  20. #8Neuroscience#13
  21. #9Nursing#13
  22. #12Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#15
  23. #8Physics and Astronomy#13
  24. #6Psychology#11
  25. #8Social Sciences#11
  26. #9Veterinary#10

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Netherlands rankSweden rank Netherlands top 10%Sweden top 10% Netherlands worksSweden works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #9 #12 16.5% 15.3% 5.4k 3.3k
Arts and Humanities #8 #13 15.5% 15.9% 6k 3.5k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #9 #11 13.3% 12.7% 11k 7k
Business, Management and Accounting #5 #12 16.4% 16.2% 5.6k 3.4k
Chemical Engineering #11 #16 12.6% 10.2% 542 362
Chemistry #13 #19 13.5% 10.7% 1.7k 1.3k
Computer Science #13 #14 11.7% 12.3% 12k 8k
Decision Sciences #5 #10 14.3% 12.6% 2.5k 1.2k
Dentistry #10 #14 18.4% 17.4% 662 501
Earth and Planetary Sciences #8 #12 13.1% 13.1% 2.8k 1.8k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #6 #12 13.6% 13.1% 4.7k 2.2k
Energy #17 #18 10.6% 12.0% 1.1k 793
Engineering #11 #14 11.6% 11.6% 20k 16k
Environmental Science #10 #11 14.0% 12.9% 9k 6.6k
Health Professions #8 #11 14.2% 13.7% 6.1k 4.1k
Immunology and Microbiology #9 #14 13.9% 12.1% 2.5k 1.5k
Materials Science #13 #15 11.7% 10.6% 3.1k 3.2k
Mathematics #15 #11 12.2% 11.4% 1.9k 1.4k
Medicine #6 #10 16.1% 14.9% 51k 27k
Neuroscience #8 #13 12.6% 11.6% 5.3k 2.5k
Nursing #9 #13 14.1% 14.8% 887 523
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics #12 #15 13.2% 12.6% 446 260
Physics and Astronomy #8 #13 13.3% 12.7% 4.6k 3.3k
Psychology #6 #11 15.3% 12.9% 9.7k 5.6k
Social Sciences #8 #11 17.2% 15.7% 23k 16k
Veterinary #9 #10 15.6% 14.0% 355 255

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Netherlands

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology11k▲ 1.26×140 topics
  2. Climate Change6,594◆ 1.11×131 topics
  3. Machine Learning5,981▼ 0.82×97 topics
  4. Inflammation5,839▲ 1.26×83 topics
  5. Deep Learning5,083▼ 0.68×85 topics
  6. Sustainability4,728◆ 0.89×139 topics
  7. Quality of Life4,599▲ 1.46×61 topics
  8. Globalization4,492◆ 1.05×182 topics
  9. Mental Health3,903▲ 1.25×47 topics
  10. Public Health3,634◆ 1.14×77 topics
  11. Treatment3,313▲ 1.25×52 topics
  12. Cardiovascular Disease3,186▲ 1.28×39 topics
  13. Depression2,953▲ 1.54×26 topics
  14. Oxidative Stress2,939▼ 0.82×63 topics
  15. Risk Factors2,929▲ 1.22×37 topics
  16. Environmental Impact2,862▼ 0.77×74 topics
  17. Human Rights2,682▲ 1.20×91 topics
  18. Renewable Energy2,558▼ 0.81×58 topics
  19. Artificial Intelligence2,544▼ 0.82×67 topics
  20. Cancer2,462▼ 0.84×59 topics
  21. Chemotherapy2,404▲ 1.56×25 topics
  22. Diagnosis2,398▲ 1.18×41 topics
  23. Big Data2,310◆ 1.11×37 topics
  24. Biomarkers2,265▲ 1.49×18 topics
  25. Immunotherapy2,187▲ 1.39×19 topics
  26. Metabolic Syndrome2,179▲ 1.23×24 topics
  27. Genetics2,129▲ 1.38×27 topics
  28. Clinical Trials2,079▲ 1.43×19 topics
  29. Management2,062▲ 1.18×40 topics
  30. Clinical Practice Guidelines2,045▲ 1.71×14 topics
  31. Meta-Analysis1,965▲ 1.53×21 topics
  32. Obesity1,959▲ 1.17×29 topics
  33. Ethics1,957▲ 1.77×61 topics
  34. Neurological Disorders1,871▲ 1.50×20 topics
  35. Anxiety1,841▲ 1.78×12 topics
  36. Aging1,766▲ 1.49×19 topics
  37. Resilience1,708▲ 1.59×19 topics
  38. Guidelines1,685▲ 1.64×13 topics
  39. Heart Failure1,569▲ 1.61×14 topics
  40. Emotion Regulation1,534▲ 2.2×9 topics

Sweden

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology6,544▲ 1.18×140 topics
  2. Climate Change4,486▲ 1.19×130 topics
  3. Machine Learning3,820▼ 0.83×95 topics
  4. Sustainability3,715◆ 1.09×137 topics
  5. Inflammation3,539▲ 1.20×83 topics
  6. Deep Learning3,371▼ 0.70×84 topics
  7. Globalization3,192▲ 1.17×178 topics
  8. Quality of Life2,646▲ 1.32×61 topics
  9. Mental Health2,575▲ 1.30×48 topics
  10. Public Health2,428▲ 1.20×74 topics
  11. Cardiovascular Disease2,363▲ 1.49×39 topics
  12. Education2,204◆ 0.92×157 topics
  13. Oxidative Stress2,176◆ 0.95×63 topics
  14. Environmental Impact2,085◆ 0.88×72 topics
  15. Treatment1,949◆ 1.15×52 topics
  16. Renewable Energy1,903◆ 0.95×61 topics
  17. Risk Factors1,892▲ 1.24×37 topics
  18. Depression1,857▲ 1.52×26 topics
  19. Cancer1,618◆ 0.87×59 topics
  20. Qualitative Research1,570▲ 1.33×44 topics
  21. Pedagogy1,566▲ 2.2×30 topics
  22. Genetics1,468▲ 1.49×27 topics
  23. Big Data1,423◆ 1.07×36 topics
  24. Biomarkers1,375▲ 1.42×18 topics
  25. Metabolic Syndrome1,372▲ 1.22×24 topics
  26. Obesity1,261▲ 1.18×29 topics
  27. Global Burden1,216▲ 1.61×12 topics
  28. Health Effects1,214▲ 1.44×24 topics
  29. Anxiety1,175▲ 1.78×12 topics
  30. Ethics1,128▲ 1.60×61 topics
  31. Resilience1,072▲ 1.57×19 topics
  32. Learning985▲ 2.4×17 topics
  33. Social Sciences983▲ 4.9×23 topics
  34. Neoliberalism978▲ 1.95×29 topics
  35. Discourse Analysis974▲ 2.9×11 topics
  36. Prevalence974▲ 1.71×15 topics
  37. Special Education874▲ 11×6 topics
  38. Gender Studies862▲ 4.1×20 topics
  39. Methodology806▲ 12×7 topics
  40. Quantitative Methods780▲ 43×2 topics

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

The Netherlands has out-published Sweden every year since 1980.

still counting20k40k60kNetherlands49k in 2025Sweden31k in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting1.0%2.0%Netherlands0.83% in 2025Sweden0.53% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting10%20%Netherlands13.6% in 2025Sweden13.1% in 2025200020102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Netherlands 41 level0 Sweden
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 4In the top 1000
  3. 14In the top 5009
  4. 17In the top 1,00012
  5. #11Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#14

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Netherlands or Sweden?

The Netherlands publishes 1.6× as much research as Sweden in 2022-now (191k against 121k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Netherlands or Sweden?

14.6% of the Netherlands's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 13.6% for Sweden.

Is Netherlands or Sweden growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +1% against 2018-21 for Sweden, and -2% for the Netherlands.

Which has more open access research, Netherlands or Sweden?

48% of the Netherlands's research is free to read, against 41% of Sweden's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Netherlands or Sweden?

The Netherlands holds 4 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Sweden 0; in the top 1,000 it is 17 against 12.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Netherlands

  1. 1University of Amsterdam17.4% top 10% · 12k works
  2. 2Radboud University Nijmegen15.7% top 10% · 13k works
  3. 3Utrecht University15.8% top 10% · 15k works
  4. 4University of Groningen15.8% top 10% · 14k works
  5. 5Erasmus University Rotterdam16.6% top 10% · 11k works
  6. 6Leiden University15.6% top 10% · 11k works

Sweden

  1. 1Karolinska Institutet16.4% top 10% · 12k works
  2. 2Uppsala University13.3% top 10% · 11k works
  3. 3University of Gothenburg14.4% top 10% · 9.8k works
  4. 4Lund University13.0% top 10% · 12k works
  5. 5Stockholm University14.7% top 10% · 7.1k works
  6. 6Chalmers University of Technology12.9% top 10% · 5.3k works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Netherlands

  1. 1 Hans C. Clevers #12 worldwide 260k citations · 1,323 works
  2. 2 Arnold B. Bakker #298 worldwide 189k citations · 745 works
  3. 3 Detlef Peter van Vuuren #407 worldwide 126k citations · 877 works
  4. 4 Nancy Bocken #490 worldwide 37k citations · 229 works
  5. 5 Lourens Poorter #512 worldwide 50k citations · 402 works

Sweden

  1. 1 Fredrik Bäckhed #256 worldwide 117k citations · 348 works
  2. 2 Carl Folke #294 worldwide 182k citations · 488 works
  3. 3 Patrik K. E. Magnusson #1,844 worldwide 120k citations · 734 works
  4. 4 Anna Maria Langkilde #2,063 worldwide 23k citations · 310 works
  5. 5 Garry Peterson #2,140 worldwide 33k citations · 234 works

Other comparisons

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