Largest number of companies called it quits since 2007

Last year 153,000 companies in the Netherlands closed down, the highest number since the start of the current measurement method in 2007. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), this is partly because the Netherlands has more companies. In 2022, for example, 6.1 percent of companies closed down, slightly higher than last year’s 6 percent.

The largest percentage of companies closed down last year in the trade, transport, and storage sectors (almost 8 percent). The largest increase was in the construction sector, from 4.4 percent of companies in that sector closing in 2023 to 6.3 percent last year. The share of closures was the lowest in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector at 3.5 percent.

The figures include both bankruptcies and voluntary closures. Last year, almost 2,000 companies went bankrupt, 28 percent more than a year earlier. 0.13 percent of all Dutch companies went bankrupt last year, the same percentage as in 2020. In the years that followed, there were few bankruptcies as government support kept many companies afloat during the coronavirus crisis. In 2015, 0.29 percent of companies went bankrupt.

The total number of companies in the Netherlands increased by more than half since 2015. This is mainly due to the rise in sole proprietorships, which also include self-employed persons. Stricter enforcement of false self-employment has recently resulted in many freelancers closing down their businesses. Last year, nine out of ten companies that called it quits had one employee. Nine years earlier, it was still 83 percent.