Amsterdam and its surrounding areas may be out of favour with international companies, with just 49 new firms establishing themselves in the Dutch capital last year, compared with 84 in 2023 and 90 in the post-coronavirus year of 2022.

New council figures also show that the new firms will generate 1,458 jobs, well below the total estimates in previous years.

The number of new arrivals requesting help at the city’s expat centre, InAmsterdam, also fell by 33% last year to 14,000, the figures show. That is the first drop since 2008, apart from during the coronavirus years.

In 2022, the council changed its general approach to attracting new companies, instead targeting firms that focus on food, innovation, sustainability, and the shift to green energy.

Among the new firms are French sports chain Decathlon, which has set up a tech hub in Amsterdam to focus on recycling materials. Medical technology firm Lovance, which researches cancer cells, is also a new arrival.

Fewer US companies are also moving to Amsterdam, due in part, according to the city’s economy chief, Sofiyan Mbarki, to measures introduced by the Biden administration to keep firms at home through subsidies and tax breaks.

The housing crisis, shortage of capacity on the electricity grids, and threatened cuts to the 30% tax break for some foreign workers are added problems, Mbarki told the Parool.

“But it is largely up to the national government to tackle these challenges,” he said. “The current cabinet has not shown its support for innovation and has no long-term vision for a sustainable economy.”

The drop in the number of expat centre BSN registrations is not confined to Amsterdam. In Leiden, for example, numbers are down 14%, and the situation is similar in Rotterdam and The Hague.

In addition, figures from immigration service IND show that 21,730 people applied to move to the Netherlands on a highly skilled migrant visa last year, down by over 4,100 on 2023.