The Dutch economy grew by 4.8 percent in 2021. That appears from first calculations which the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) published on Tuesday. This means that the economic contraction of 3.8 percent in 2020 has been caught up again the following year. The growth is partly due to the fact that households and the government spent more money and that the Netherlands exported more products abroad.
Consumers spent 3.5 percent more in 2021 than in 2020, especially on hospitality, medical services and clothing, and on the housing market. They also used more gas. Nevertheless, consumer spending is not yet at the level of 2019, when households still spent more than 3 percent more than in 2021. More Dutch machines and chemical products were sold abroad.
In the last quarter of 2021, the Dutch gross domestic product (GDP) grew by almost 1 percent compared to the previous quarter. That is a smaller growth than in the previous two quarters, when growth was 3.8 and 2.1 percent respectively. This smaller growth is mainly due to the lockdown that was introduced in mid-December, CBS writes.