The Dutch economy grew 1% in the second quarter of 2024 when compared with the first, and 0.8% when compared with the same period last year, national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday.

The increase in GDP, which is higher than had been expected, is due mainly to exports, but investment and government spending also had a role, the CBS said.

“I did not see this coming,” CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen told broadcaster NOS. It remains to be seen if the growth continues, he said, and “we cannot yet speak of a new trend”.

Nevertheless, he said in an explanatory video, Dutch economic growth is now higher than the EU average of 0.3%, and than in the Netherlands’ surrounding countries of France, Belgium and Germany.

Exports

Exports were up 1.3% in the second quarter, primarily chemicals, food and machinery produced in the Netherlands itself.  

Consumers, however, spent less, particularly on food, energy and going out for a drink or a meal. “This is partly down to the bad weather, Van Mulligen said. “The hospitality industry in particular had a poor quarter. Consumers are reluctant to spend and prices are high.”

Consumer spending fell 0.7% in June than in June 2023.

The new figures also show more people are in work and the number of jobs has risen by 0.2 percentage point to 11.6 million. There was a slight drop in the number of vacancies in the second quarter, but the jobless figure, at 3.6%, is “stable”, Van Mulligen said. The number of vacancies continues to outstrip the number of people looking for work by 108 to 100.

In total 9.8 million people between the ages of 15 to 75 are now included in the workforce (the official ILO definition) and some 73.4% have a job. Of them, 5.5 million have permanent employment, a rise of 26,000 on the first quarter of the year. The number of people in permanent jobs has risen steadily since 2015, the CBS said.

Economic affairs minister Dirk Beljaarts told broadcaster NOS the economic growth figure is good news, but warned that future prosperity will still be hurt by the greying population, staff shortages and pressure on the electricity grid.

The Netherlands, he said, needs to focus on boosting productivity, which has stagnated in recent years to ensure growth continues. Companies, he said, need space to operate and develop innovative, creative ideas.