Dutch economy is still growing, but ‘is losing steam’

This article was last updated on July 30, 2025

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Dutch economy is still growing, but ‘is losing steam’

The Dutch economy has grown a little bit in recent months: with 0.1 percent compared to the first three months of this year. According to the latest figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), this was mainly because more investments have been made and the government spent more money.

For more than a year, five quarters in a row, economic growth in our country is constantly decreasing. “The economy is slowly losing steam. That may also have to do with geopolitical unrest. There is uncertainty about companies about the trade war and what that all means,” says the CBS Peter Hein Van Mulligen.

Defense

The investments from the business community and the government are mainly about more means of transport, such as ships and aircraft. “There are also defense issues, they saw a peak. That does not happen every quarter. On the other hand, the intention is that the expenses for Defense will soon be 5 percent of the economy. So if that is going to happen, you could expect that these expenditures can still contribute to economic growth in the coming years.”

According to the CBS, the government also spends more money on healthcare every quarter. This is due to the persistent aging in our country. At the beginning of the year, a lot was invested in construction, which has decreased in recent months.

In the figures of the Statistics Office there is an increase in the Delftwinning sector. “In the past quarter, mineral extraction grew something again, especially gas extraction,” says Van Mulligen. “More gas has also been introduced in the Netherlands. Anyway, that industry is not that big anymore, so the contribution to growth was limited.”

Less expenditure by households

From the figures It also appears that households have recently spent less money on hospitality, clothing and recreation. According to Van Mulligen, those expenses were a lot higher in the first quarter.

“The previous quarters, on the other hand, wore the consumption of households strongly to economic growth. In the last quarter, that can be incidental, because it is not due to the fact that we all have too little money. Especially due to last year’s high wage increase, consumers have a lot of money to spend.”

In the past year our economy has grown a bit and although the economy ‘loses steam’ does not automatically mean that we will be in the minus in the coming months. “Whether the next quarter will be a minus is still waiting,” says Van Mulligen.

Statistics Netherlands expects limited economic growth for the whole of 2025.