The Dutch economy grew by 0.1% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first, driven mainly by higher investment and public spending, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

Compared with the same period last year, GDP increased by 1.5%.

The quarterly growth was smaller than in previous periods, marking the fifth consecutive quarter in which the pace of expansion has slowed. In the first quarter of 2025, the economy grew by 0.3%.

The growth was largely down to investments although there was less investment in construction, said CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen.  Government spending rose but households spending fell by 0.4%, especially on hospitality, clothing and recreation.

“The Dutch economy is slowly using steam, which is probably due to geopolitical upsets,” Van Mulligen said.

Exports

Exports of goods and services rose by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, but imports grew by 2.6%, narrowing the trade surplus.

The labour market remained tight in the second quarter, with 101 vacancies for every 100 unemployed people – unchanged from the previous three months, the CBS said.

There were 389,000 job vacancies at the end of June, a decrease of 7,000 compared to the first quarter. The number of jobs in ICT, industry and real estate services declined slightly, while healthcare added 1,000 new vacancies, bringing the total to 68,000.

The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%, while the number of long-term unemployed fell from 63,000 to 59,000, the CBS said.

The number of employees on flexible contracts rose by 27,000, following a sharp decline in previous quarters. The number of workers with permanent contracts also increased, up by 18,000 to 5.6 million.