The Dutch economy shrank slightly again in the third quarter of 2023, meaning that the Netherlands is technically still in recession. That reports the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on Tuesday. Gross domestic product fell by 0.2 percent. The added value of energy companies to GDP has fallen by 7.4 percent, and that of companies in the sports, culture and recreation sectors by 2.5 percent.
In the first two quarters of this year, the economy shrank by 0.4 and 0.5 percent, and in the current and last quarter the economy also appears to be shrinking again, according to CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen: “The first Signs show a continuation of previous quarters. Consumer confidence is still low and there is no recovery in the industry either.”
The contraction can partly be explained by the fact that the Dutch economy recovered very quickly after the corona crisis compared to other European countries. On average, European economies grew by 0.1 percent last quarter. The difference between the Netherlands and the rest of Europe will therefore become smaller again in 2023. French GDP even grew by 0.5 percent.
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It sounds contradictory, but it is possible: the Dutch economy is shrinking and growing at the same time