Dutch economy grew 0.6% in Q3, driven by manufacturing industry

The Dutch economy grew by 0.6 percent in the third quarter, compared to the previous quarter, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Friday, based on provisional figures. The manufacturing industry made the strongest contribution to the growth. Year-on-year, the economy grew by 1.2 percent.

CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen called the economic growth in quarter three a pleasant surprise. “The previous quarter was already surprisingly good,” he told ANP. In Q2, the economy grew by 0.7 percent. “At the start of this year, the forecast was that growth for the year as a whole would fall below 1 percent; however, we are now seeing an average growth rate of 1.7 percent. Even if growth were to come to a standstill in this final quarter, the annual figure would still comfortably exceed 1 percent. This suggests that, due to geopolitical uncertainty, expectations had been far too pessimistic.”

According to Van Mulligen, the Dutch economy has so far weathered the global tensions very well. “While the United States continues to threaten tariffs and the Middle East remains volatile, demand within the Dutch industrial sector stays strong—largely unaffected by these tensions. Furthermore, a significant portion of Dutch exports goes to the rest of the European Union, where these particular tensions are not a factor."

Exports rose by 0.5 percent compared with Q2, with exports in machinery and transport equipment increasing in particular. Imports grew at a slower rate, increasing 0.3 percent, resulting in a positive trade balance.

Government consumption increased by 0.4 percent compared to the previous quarter. The government particularly spent more on healthcare and civil servants’ salaries. Household consumption also increased by 0.4 percent, with more spending on food and clothing. Investment fell by 0.1 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Added value, the difference between a sector’s output and the raw materials, energy, and services going in, grew the most in the mining and quarrying sector (+6.9 percent). Added value in the manufacturing sector grew only 2.7 percent, but this sector still made the largest contribution to economic growth in Q3 due to its economic significance, CBS said.

The year-on-year growth in manufacturing output prices also rose sharply to 8.3 percent in September. That was the highest level observed in any given 12-month period since February 2023.

Oil prices are a primary driver of increases in output prices, which showed a 6.9 percent annual increase in September. But oil prices jumped sharply by 53 percent year-on-year in September, the CBS said, which in turn pushed September output prices up 1.3 percent in just one month’s time.

“The rise in oil prices since March is due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East,” the CBS wrote in a statement, noting that output prices typically rise or fall with crude oil prices. “In September 2026, a barrel of crude oil cost nearly 87 euros, representing a rise of 53 percent year on year. In August 2026, the average price of a barrel of North Sea Brent crude stood at over 76 euros.”