Cross-sector wage rises averaged 1.5% last year, down on the 1.8% average increase agreed in 2016, national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

Farm workers benefited the most – their pay rose 2.3% – while hairdressers were at the bottom of the heap with a 1% rise, the agency said.

This year centrally-agreed pay rises are likely to top 2.1%, according to preliminary research by the AWVN employers organisation, news agency ANP reported.

A large majority of the Netherlands’ employers feel wages should now be rising, according to a survey of around 1,000 decision makers carried out for the Financieele Dagblad in October.

Both former finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem and central bank president Klaas Knot have called for pay increases, saying that an increase in spending power will boost economic growth.