Strong growth Dutch economy: travel industry seems to profit from increased expenditure

15 February 2017

Great news! The growth of the Dutch economy was surprisingly high last year. The economy increased with 2,1 percent over 2016. This achieved the strongest growth since 2007. For this year, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) forecast that Holland will do better than expected.

That appears from the Economic Developments and Outlook of the DNB. The economic outlook is positive with an expected growth of 2,3 percent. Also the wages increases with 2 percent. Thereby the Dutch economy performs above average in Europe.

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) announced that the economy increased with 0,5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to the prior quarter. Also the gross domestic product (GDP) grew with 2,3 percent in the same period.

Consumers spent considerably more in the last months of 2016 than the previous year, reports the CBS. The travel industry seems to profit from the increased expenditure, appears from the data of the ANVR GfK Travelscan. The holiday year has started very well in 2017. The bookings in January were 2,6 percent higher than the same month last year.

Sources:
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)
Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

ANVR GfK Travelscan