Unemployment down in April

There were 397 thousand unemployed people in the Netherlands in April, or 3.9 percent of the labour force (aged 15 to 74 years). The number of unemployed people has fallen by an average of 6 thousand per month over the past three months. The number of people in paid employment increased by an average of 3 thousand per month, over the same period. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released figures. At the end of April, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 203 thousand current recipients of unemployment (WW) benefit.

The number of unemployed people remained higher than in April 2025. In addition to the 397 thousand unemployed persons, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work in April. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. Many of them are retirees or are unable to work due to illness or occupational disability. Averaged over the past three months, the number of people who are not part of the labour force has risen by an average of 1 thousand per month.

Employee Insurance Agency (UWV): slight increase in recipients of unemployment benefit in April

The UWV recorded 203.1 thousand recipients of unemployment benefit at the end of April. This put the number of recipients slightly higher than in the previous month (up by 0.5 percent), and means that the total number of recipients of unemployment benefit remained above 200 thousand, as it had in the first few months of 2026.

More people found work than became unemployed

Unemployment can increase or decrease due to four different changes in people’s circumstances. Two of these changes can lead to lower unemployment. The first is when an unemployed person finds a job (155 thousand in April). The second is when an unemployed person stops seeking work and is therefore no longer part of the workforce (107 thousand in April). A total of 262 thousand people were no longer unemployed in April, who had been unemployed three months earlier.

There are also two groups of people moving in the opposite direction, which can contribute to higher unemployment. The first group is made up of employed people who lose their job (120 thousand in April) and the second group is made up of people who were previously unavailable for work and decide to seek work (124 thousand in April). If people in these groups do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force. In April there were 244 thousand people who were unemployed but had been in work three months earlier, due to these factors. The number of unemployed people has fallen by an average of 6 thousand per month over the past three months, because more people found work than became unemployed.

Fall in number of new job seekers

The drop in unemployment in March and April occurred largely because fewer people outside the labour force decided to start seeking work and did not find it immediately, while more unemployed people stopped looking for employment. In February, by contrast, unemployment rose by 34 thousand on balance, due to these two factors. In April, there were only 17 thousand new job seekers.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the labour force in accordance with guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The indicators described (employed labour force and unemployed labour force) are used around the world to describe cyclical developments on the labour market. Monthly figures are essential for this. In addition, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) publishes its own monthly figures on unemployment benefits. The figures released by UWV do not correspond precisely with the labour force indicators. For further information on the differences between the sources, please refer to the technical notes.

Due to technical disruption caused by a fire in a data centre in May 2026, respondents were temporarily unable to complete Statistics Netherlands surveys. The response rate in April was therefore lower than average, and consequently the figures are less reliable than they usually would be. The figures for April are therefore provisional and still subject to adjustments.