Slight recovery for international car trade

Imports and exports of cars to and from the Netherlands are gradually improving. After six years of decrease, imports of new cars rose by one percent in 2006. Following a substantial drop in 2005, exports fell by only one percent last year.

Most cars from Belgium

Imports of new cars rose by 6.5 thousand in 2006 to nearly 550 thousand. More than 144 thousand new cars were imported from Germany, but most cars (164 thousand, 30 percent) are imported from Belgium. These are not all cars produced in Belgium, however. Italian cars are cleared through customs in Belgium and are therefore recorded in the Netherlands as imports from Belgium.

Imports and exports of new cars

Fewer cars from China, more from Japan

China is now the third largest car manufacturer in the world. Imports of new cars from China have increased sharply since 2000. In that year only four cars were imported from China. In 2006 this had risen to nearly 11 thousand, although this was just over 900 down on 2005.
More than 22 thousand cars were imported from Japan, the world’s second largest car manufacturer. This is almost 2 thousand more than in 2005.

Car imports: main countries of origin

Smaller fall in exports

Exports fell by nearly 3 thousand cars in 2006, to just over 179 thousand. This decrease is considerably smaller than in 2005, when nearly 61 thousand fewer new cars were exported
The Netherlands exports most cars to Germany. In 2006 40 percent of exports went there. These exports consist of cars produced in the Netherlands as well as cars imported into the Netherlands and then re-exported without undergoing any further -  or only very minor - processing. 

Wiel Packbier