Economic picture more negative in April

The economic picture was more negative in April than in March, according to the CBS Business Cycle Tracer. In the Tracer for April, 10 of the 13 indicators were below their long-term trend.

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 the figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). This picture will still vary between households, enterprises or regions, however.

Consumers more negative, producers equally negative

Consumers were much more negative in April than they were in March, while producers were equally negative. Producer confidence was above the average for the past twenty years, while consumer confidence was below it.

Exports up, household consumption down, investment unchanged

In February 2026, the total volume of goods exported (adjusted for the number of working days) was up by 1.6 percent, year on year. Export volumes were higher for machinery, minerals and transport equipment.

Households spent 0.5 percent less on goods and services in February, year on year, adjusted for price changes and the shopping-day pattern.

In February, the volume of investment in tangible fixed assets remained unchanged, year on year. Investment in machinery (including defence equipment) and infrastructure was higher, but lower in passenger cars and buildings.

Manufacturing output almost 1 percent lower in February, year on year

In February 2026, the calendar-adjusted output of the Dutch manufacturing sector was 0.7 percent lower than it was in February 2025. Manufacturing output fell by 1.3 percent in February relative to January.

Fewer bankruptcies in March

Adjusted for the number of court session days, there were 9 fewer bankruptcies in March than in February, an decrease of 3 percent.

House prices up by 5 percent in March, year on year

The average price of an owner-occupied home (excluding newbuild homes) was up by 5.0 percent in March 2026, year on year. Prices in March rose by 0.3 percent relative to February.

Fewer hours worked, fewer vacancies, unemployment down

There were 407 thousand unemployed persons in the Netherlands in March. This means that 4.0 percent of the labour force (aged 15 to 74 years) was unemployed. The number of unemployed people has fallen by an average of 1 thousand per month over the last three months.

In Q1 2026, employees and self-employed persons worked over 3.7 billion hours in total. Adjusted for seasonal effects, this was down by 0.2 percent from Q4.

At the end of Q1 2026, there were 378 thousand vacancies, a decrease of 6 thousand compared to the previous quarter. The number of vacancies has fallen in almost every quarter since the third quarter of 2022.

In Q4 2025, the turnover of temporary employment and job placement agencies was 0.4 percent higher, year on year.

Economic growth of 0.1 percent in Q1 2026

According to the first estimate from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1 percent in Q1 2026, relative to the previous quarter. Public consumption, investment and changes in inventories made a positive contribution to growth, but exports made a negative contribution.