Turnover in the Dutch business services sector fell 18.5% in the second quarter of this year, with the advertising and travel sectors particularly hard hit, national statistics agency CBS said.

The last major decline in turnover was the final quarter of 2009, at the height of the credit crisis, when business service sales fell by nearly 8%, the CBS said.

The travel sector saw sales plunge 90% in the second three months of the year, as coronavirus put paid to business travel and events. Advertising agencies saw their turnover fall by around one third while market research firms lost some 20%.

Nevertheless, one sector was able to benefit from the crisis. Corporate law firms and legal advisors booked 2% more profit during the second quarter, although this is a lower increase than in previous months, the CBS said.

By contrast, accountants and tax advisors booked a 2% drop in turnover, the first decline in five years.