Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) : Second quarter economic growth for the country of Belgium was 1% driven mainly by a 1.3% rise in exports principally chemicals and machinery. This has been offset by a decline in consumer spending due to high prices and less hospitable climatic conditions that really hit the hospitality sector hard. The number of jobs rose to 11.6 million, with the rate of unemployment remaining stable at 3.6%.
In the 2nd quarter of 2024 Dutch economy grew by 1% compared to 1st quarter and 0.8% when compared to last years same period . The reason for this growth is mainly attributed to exports although investments and government spending have played a role as well. Chief economist at CBS was astonished with this growth but could not tell whether this will last or not.
How is the Dutch economy responding to export growth and consumer spending changes?
In Q2 exports rose by 1.3% with The Netherlands providing more chemicals, foodstuffs and equipment than ever before. Reduced spending on consumer items was high for example in foodstuff energy and entertainment because of bad climates. For this reason hospitality was affected because people are reluctant to spend given high prices.
At this moment a larger population has taken to hustles which has surged the employment numbers to 11.6 million. The unemployment rate remains unchanged at 3.6% whereas there are more job opportunities than searchers in employment. In total approximately 9.8 million individuals aged between 15-75 years make up the labor force with an employment rate of 73.4% . According to CBS since 2015 there has been a consistent growth in the number of people working under permanent contracts.
Economic Affairs Minister Dirk Beljaerts said it was good news on economic growth but future prosperity still could be hit by the aging population, staff shortage and strain on the electricity grid. He said that the Netherlands must enhance productivity to sustain growth this is an area that has not improved much lately. Companies need room to work and come up with new creative ideas that keep them growing.
