Dutch businesses fear for their survival if pandemic continues

Half of all business in the Netherlands, excluding those in the financial services sector, expect that the survival of their company will be in danger if the Covid-19 pandemic continues for longer than six months. Most business owners also expect revenue to continue to fall for a second quarter, which will inevitably lead to more staff cuts.

According to a joint report by several leading economic bodies in the Netherlands, including Statistics Netherlands, the Chamber of Commerce (KvK), and the Economic Institute for Construction (EIB), the figures become even grimmer if the Covid-19 were to continue for longer than twelve months. In such an event, more than 60 percent of businesses said that they would likely not survive.

The report, which relied on data from the month of April, focused on businesses which have more than five employees, and endeavored to map out the operational landscape for Dutch companies across a range of sectors in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hotel and catering businesses were by far the most pessimistic, with nearly 40 percent predicting the end of their companies if the crisis continues through June. Three out of every four entrepreneurs predicted a decline in sales.

There were still six percent of business owners who predicted growth in turnover, with many of those businesses in some form of retail sales, logistics or storage. 

"The aim of the [joint report] is to obtain more complete information about non-financial businesses at lower administrative burdens," the KvK said.