Economic picture more negative in October

The CBS Business Cycle Tracer is a tool used to monitor the state of the Dutch economy. It provides an overall macroeconomic picture of the past month or quarter, based on all figures published by CBS. This picture will still vary between households, enterprises or regions, however.

Consumers and producers less negative

Consumers and producers were less negative in October than in the previous month. Producer confidence was above the long-term average for the past twenty years, while consumer confidence was below.

Household consumption and exports up, investment down

Household spending was 1.1 percent higher in August 2025 than it was in August 2024, adjusted for price changes and the shopping-day pattern. Households spent more on goods and services.

In August 2025, the total volume of goods exported (adjusted for the number of working days) was up by 0.4 percent year on year. Growth was lower than a month earlier. Export volumes were higher for crude oil and natural gas, basic metals and metal products, and transport equipment.

The volume of investment in tangible fixed assets was down by 3.8 percent year on year. This was mainly due to less investment in buildings and other road transport (lorries, trailers, vans, etc.).

Manufacturing output in August unchanged from the previous year

In August 2025, the calendar-adjusted output of the Dutch manufacturing sector was at the same level as it was in August 2024. After adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects, manufacturing output rose by 1.7 percent relative to July.

Fewer bankruptcies in September

Adjusted for the number of court session days, there were 3 fewer bankruptcies in September than in August, a decrease of 1 percent.

House prices up by 7 percent in September

The average price for an owner-occupied home (excluding newbuild homes) was 7.0 percent higher in September 2025 year on year. The average price level in September was the same as it was in August.

More hours worked, fewer vacancies, unemployment up

In Q3 2025, employees and self-employed persons worked over 3.7 billion hours in total. Adjusted for seasonal effects, this was up by 0.2 percent on Q2.

There were 409 thousand unemployed persons in September 2025. This means that 4.0 percent of the labour force (aged 15 to 74 years) were unemployed. This is the highest percentage seen in four years. The number of unemployed persons has risen by an average of 8 thousand per month over the past three months.

The number of vacancies decreased by 2 thousand to 387 thousand in the third quarter of 2025. The number of vacancies has been declining almost every quarter for three consecutive years.

In Q2 2025, the turnover of temporary employment and job placement agencies was 0.3 percent lower year on year.

Economic growth of 0.4 percent in Q3 2025

According to the first estimate conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.4 percent in Q3 2025 relative to Q2 2025. This growth was mainly attributable to exports and public consumption.