Money laundering in the Netherlands

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated money laundering at 2-5% of world GDP but few others have made an attempt to quantify global money laundering. John Walker (1999) was the first analyst to make a serious attempt at quantifying money laundering and the initial output from his model suggests that $2,85 trillion is laundered globally.

Research by the Utrecht School of Economics and the Australian National University shows that Walker tends to overestimate money generated for laundering in the Netherlands, by about 30-40%. The results indicate that there is Є 8 to 14 billion from crime generated in the Netherlands of which 44% will stay in the Netherlands for laundering. This means that money laundering from crime in the Netherlands amounts to Є 3.2 to 4.2 billion per year, with the most likely estimate to be Є 3.8 billion. The remaining Dutch criminal money will be placed somewhere else. In addition, criminal money from abroad will also flow into the Netherlands. There is also an additional Є 14 to 21 billion that flows into the Netherlands from the top 20 origin countries of generated money for laundering. This means that the amount of money laundering with which the Dutch have to deal accounts for about Є 18 to 25 billion, hence about 4% of the Dutch money demand, or about 5% of the Dutch GDP.

Read the full report 'The Amounts and Effects of Money Laundering' (PDF)