People walk past restaurants and bars in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo Acquire License Rights
AMSTERDAM, Aug 16 (Reuters) – The Dutch economy has slipped into recession as it shrank by 0.3% quarterly in the second quarter, according to a first estimate released by Statistics Netherlands on Wednesday.
The euro zone’s fifth-largest economy shrank for the second straight quarter after contracting 0.4% in the first three months of the year.
Economic growth in the Netherlands was almost 5% per year in 2021 and 2022, recovering quickly from a COVID-19 slump.
The first recession since the pandemic was caused by a drop in consumer spending and exports as rising inflation pushed up food prices and energy bills in the Netherlands and its trading partners.
Consumer spending fell 1.6%, while exports were 0.7% lower than in the first three months of the year.
Inflation in the Netherlands has fallen from its peak of 14.5% in September last year, but was still relatively high at around 6% in the second quarter of 2023.
Reporting by Bart Meijer, edited by Mark Potter
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Comments are closed.