80% of Dutch firms are now one-man companies

There are now over 1.5 million companies in the Netherlands but 1.2 million of them have no more than one employee, according to the national statistics office CBS.

Last year, 163,000 new firms registered at the country’s chambers of trade and just under 100,000 closed down, boosting the total number of firms by 5%. It is the first time the number of closures fell below 100,000 since 2010, the CBS said.

Some 22% of the country’s companies are focused on business services. Some 13% are involved in trade and 9% in construction.