Wages rose faster than business profits in 2025: CBS

Workers took a slightly larger share of the money generated by Dutch companies last year, as pay rose faster than corporate profits, figures from national statistics agency CBS show.

The labour income share for the market sector – the portion of income earned that goes to employees and the self-employed – rather than into company profits, rose from 70.4% in 2024 to 70.6% in 2025.

The increase of 0.2% runs against a longer-term decline. The share stood at 81.4% in 1995 and has trended downwards since, meaning a growing slice of what the economy produces has gone to profits rather than pay over the past three decades.

CBS said the share rose in 2025 because income from labour grew more quickly than companies’ operating profits, following several years of strong pay rises. It had also risen slightly in 2024.

The biggest gain was in the information and communication sector, where the labour share jumped from 77.2% to 82.3%. It also rose in agriculture, forestry and fishing and in culture, sport and recreation, but fell in retail, energy supply, manufacturing and construction.

The market sector covers the whole economy apart from public administration, education, health and social care, real estate, mining and financial services. The 2025 figures are provisional and are typically revised over the following two years.