Economic picture remains equally negative

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 CBS. This picture will still vary between households, enterprises or regions, however.

Consumers and producers less negative

Consumers and producers were less negative in September than in August. Consumer and producer confidence were below the long-term average for the past two decades.

Household consumption and exports up, investment down

Households spent 1.1 percent more in July 2024 year on year, adjusted for price changes and shopping-day pattern. They spent more on both services and goods.

In July 2024, the total volume of goods exported (adjusted for the number of working days) was up by 2.2 percent year on year. Export volumes were higher for food, beverages and tobacco, chemical products, electronic products and electrical equipment, in particular. Business also exported more metal and metal products.

In July 2024, the investment volume for tangible fixed assets was down by 1.2 percent year on year. This was mainly due to lower investments in buildings and aircraft.

Manufacturing output down by over 4 percent in July

In July 2024, the calendar-adjusted output of Dutch manufacturing was 4.4 percent lower than it was in July 2023. Year-on-year output also contracted in the preceding twelve months. After adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects, manufacturing output fell by 1.1 percent in July relative to June.

Fewer bankruptcies in August

Adjusted for the number of court session days, there were 71 fewer bankruptcies in August 2024 than in July. That was a decrease of 18 percent. However, there has been an upward trend in the number of bankruptcies for over two years.

House prices up by over 11 percent in August

In August 2024, existing owner-occupied dwellings were 11.2 percent more expensive, on average, than they were one year previously. That is the largest increase in two years. Prices were 1.1 percent higher in August than they were in July.

More hours worked, more unemployment and less vacancies

In Q2 2023, the number of hours worked rose by 0.4 percent on the previous quarter after adjustment for seasonal effects. Employees and self-employed people worked a total of over 3.7 billion hours in Q2 2024.

Over the past three months, the number of employed people has risen slightly by an average of 2 thousand per month to 374 thousand. As a result, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.7 percent in August.

At the end of Q2 2024, there were 401 thousand vacancies, almost 10 thousand fewer than in the previous quarter. The number of vacancies has been falling for almost two consecutive years, with only a slight increase in Q1 2024.

In Q2 2024, the turnover of temporary employment and job placement agencies was 2.4 percent higher year on year.

Economic growth of 1.0 percent in Q2 2024

According to the second estimate from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.0 percent in Q2 2024, relative to the previous quarter. The growth in Q2 is mainly due to goods exports. Public consumption and investments also made a positive contribution. The increase in goods exports is also related to the growth seen in the manufacturing sector.