Export growth over 3 percent in August

More recent figures are available on this topic. View the latest figures here.
© Hollandse Hoogte
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports that the total volume of goods exports grew by 3.2 percent in August relative to August 2017. Relative growth was higher than in July. In August 2018, exports of transport equipment, machinery and appliances increased most notably. The volume of imports was 3.8 percent up on August 2017.

The CBS Exports Radar indicates that circumstances for exports in October are less favourable than in August.

Exports of goods (volume, adjusted for working days)
Year MonthMutation (year-on-year % change)
2014September6.2
2014October3.2
2014November2.8
2014December5.9
2015January7
2015February4.6
2015March3.5
2015April5.5
2015May5.8
2015June4.9
2015July5.3
2015August6.6
2015September3.5
2015October5.6
2015November4.4
2015December4
2016January4.3
2016February3.5
2016March3.7
2016April5.5
2016May6.4
2016June2.4
2016July2.9
2016August3
2016September5.8
2016October3.2
2016November6.2
2016December5.1
2017January1.2
2017February6.3
2017March7.9
2017April0.6
2017May4.6
2017June10.6
2017July7.1
2017August7.2
2017September7.8
2017October7.1
2017November7
2017December6.1
2018January5.1
2018February3
2018March2.4
2018April6.7
2018May4.5
2018June-0.5
2018July2.4
2018August3.2

Circumstances for Dutch exports in October less favourable than in August

Every month, CBS also publishes updates on the circumstances for exports in the Exports Radar. Conditions are strongly affected by recent developments on the main export markets for Dutch products and by the competitive position of the Netherlands. Although the Radar indicators show a strong correlation with export activity, improved circumstances are not necessarily translated into increased export growth.

According to the CBS Exports Radar, circumstances for Dutch exports in October are less favourable than in August. The year-on-year development of the German manufacturing output and the development of the real effective exchange rates were less favourable.

Goods exports account for approximately three-quarters of total exports. As for data on exports of services, these are not published monthly. Data on total exports are published quarterly and annually. The figures reported in this publication are provisional and may be adjusted.