GDP growth rate remains 1.5 percent in Q2 2017

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© Flip Franssen/Hollandse Hoogte
According to the second estimate conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), gross domestic product (GDP) showed a 1.5 percent growth in Q2 2017 relative to Q1 2017. The second GDP estimate is published 90 days after the end of the quarter.

The growth figure is the same as in the first estimate, which was published on 16 August. Growth is mainly due to an increase in exports and household consumption. Investments were up again as well. GDP has grown continually over the past 13 quarters.

The GDP growth recorded in Q2 is exceptionally high and has only occurred twice before in this century. Future quarterly growth figures will show to what extent the peak in growth in Q2 was an exception.

Second estimate

The second estimate is conducted 90 days after the end of the quarter. The first estimate, which is calculated 45 days after the end of the quarter, is based on the most recent data available at that moment. After the first estimate, more new information about the state of the Dutch economy keeps pouring in, e.g. data about the sectors construction business services, hotels and restaurants, government care and the financial sector. These data are subsequently incorporated into new calculations.

In absolute terms, adjustments in the second estimate relative to the first have averaged 0.1 percentage point over the past half decade, with the two extremes at - 0.3 and + 0.5 percentage point.

No adjustments of growth in previous quarters

With each new estimate, CBS also recalculates the seasonally adjusted series of previously published quarters. However, this hasn’t resulted in adjustments of quarter-on-quarter growth in previous quarters.

Growth relative to Q2 2016

Year-on-year, the economic growth rate in Q2 was 3.3 percent, the same as in the first estimate.

53 thousand new jobs

The second estimate shows that the number of employee and self-employed jobs increased by 53 thousand in Q2 2017 compared to Q1 2017. The first estimate suggested an increase of 51 thousand jobs.

In Q2 2017, the second estimate suggested a growth of 202 thousand employee and self-employed jobs compared to the same quarter in 2016, versus 199 thousand according to the first estimate.

Job figures are adjusted when additional information becomes available.

Sources

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