There were a record 2,00,404 registered companies in the Netherlands at the beginning of this year, but 66% of them were self-employed operations, according to figures from the Dutch chamber of commerce (KvK).

One in four new company bosses was ‘not born in the Netherlands’ and immigrants now account for one in six of the companies registered at the KvK, the agency said in its 2019 annual report. Most work in construction, logistics and the hospitality industry – sectors where self-employment has grown considerably in recent years.

Last year, 230,000 new companies were registered with the KvK and 131,000 stopped operations, adding almost 100,000 to the total. Just over 30,000 firms went bust, a slight drop on 2018.

The KvK also highlights very strong growth in the number of entrepreneurs aged 18 or under. In total, 6,572 18s and under set up a company last year. Four in five teenage entrepreneurs were male and webshops were the most popular sort of enterprise.