Dutch economy's first quarter growth stronger than expected

The Dutch economy’s growth in the first quarter of 2025 was stronger than Statistics Netherlands (CBS) expected in its first calculations. According to the statistics office’s new calculations, the economy grew by 0.4 percent compared to the previous quarter and by 2.2 percent when compared to a year earlier.

After its first calculations, CBS reported that the Dutch economy’s quarter-on-quarter growth was 0.1 percent and annual growth 2.0 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The higher growth is mainly due to an upward adjustment of the trade balance of goods and services and household consumption. Government consumption also made a positive contribution, CBS said.

CBS always does a first calculation 30 days after the end of a quarter, and then a second calculation based on more complete figures approximately 85 days after the end of the quarter. Typically, the second calculation results in only minor adjustments. Over the past five years, the absolute adjustment was +0.1 percent, on average. The two extremes were -0.4 percent and +0.7 percent in 2024 and 2021, respectively, CBS said.

The statistics office also revised the annual figures for 2023 and 2024 based on newly available information. According to CBS, economic growth in 2024 was 1.1 percent, not 1.0 percent. And the economic growth in 2023 has been definitively set at -0.6 percent, instead of +0.1 percent.