The Netherlands boasts a highly developed social market economy, ranking as the world's 18th largest by nominal GDP and 11th in per capita income, with Amsterdam hosting major tech giants like IBM and Google, while Rotterdam serves as Europe's largest seaport. It excels in innovation and competitiveness, ranking 8th globally on the Global Innovation Index, and its economy thrives on foreign trade, a strong social safety net (25.3% of GDP), and a highly mechanized agricultural sector that employs only 2% of the workforce. The country adopted the euro in 2002 and is a founding member of the EU, OECD, and WTO, but its discovery of vast natural gas reserves in 1959 led to the "Dutch disease" phenomenon, and it is also ranked as the 7th largest tax haven. After abandoning strict financial policies in 2009 due to the credit crisis, unemployment peaked at 7.3% in 2013 before dropping to 3.9% in 2018, and the state budget achieved a surplus by 2016. Historically, the Netherlands invented the stock market and, after gaining independence in 1581, became a dominant trade power by the mid-17th century, with its merchant marine totaling about half of Europe's shipping by 1670.