Economic Outlook Less Negative in August
In August, the economy of the Netherlands was less negative than in July, says the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The CBS measures this with the Economic Clock. It looks at many economic figures together.
Of the 13 figures, 9 were worse than usual. Consumers were slightly less negative in August than in July. People who make or sell things (the producers) were actually more positive.
However, consumers trust the economy less than the average of the past 20 years, while producers trust the economy more than that average. Companies exported 3.1 percent more goods in June than in June 2025. They sold especially more oil products, machines, and electronic devices.
Households bought 1.7 percent more goods in June than a year earlier, mostly more goods. Companies invested 2.7 percent more in large items such as buildings and trucks. But they bought fewer airplanes, machines, and ships.
In June 2026, there was one more working day than in June 2025. Factories in the Netherlands produced almost 5 percent more products in June than a year earlier. In May, that growth was still 6.8 percent.
But compared to May, the industry produced slightly less in June. In July, fewer companies went bankrupt: 36 fewer companies stopped compared to June. That is 12 percent less.
The prices of owner-occupied homes were on average almost 4 percent higher in July than a year earlier. In June, this increase was slightly higher. Since the end of 2024, prices have been rising less quickly.
Since June, prices have increased by 0.5 percent. The number of unemployed increased in July: 4.0 percent were unemployed. That was 404 thousand people, and on average 2 thousand unemployed people are added each month.
Employees and self-employed people together worked 3.7 billion hours in the second quarter. That is 0.4 percent fewer hours than the previous quarter. At the end of the second quarter, there were 375 thousand job vacancies open, 3 thousand fewer than a quarter earlier.
Fewer and fewer companies are looking for people. The turnover of employment agencies was 3.8 percent higher in the first quarter than in the same quarter last year. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter.
This was mainly due to increased spending by households and the government.