Slight increase in number of zzp'ers in first quarter of 2026

13 January 2025
Edited 4 February 2026
2 min

The number of zzp'ers (self-employed professionals without staff) in the Netherlands is constantly changing. With the KVK ZZP monitor, you can closely follow the development of zzp'ers in the Netherlands.

The total number of zzp'ers rose slightly in the first quarter (+0.3%). On 31 March, 1,793,380 zzp'ers were registered in the Business Register, some 5,000 more than in the previous quarter. This is according to the KVK ZZP Monitor for the first quarter of 2026. In absolute terms, the number of zzp'ers increased most notably in the specialist business services sector (+2,000) and the information and communication technology sector (+1,500). The health and social care sector saw the largest decline (-2,400).

Compared with the first quarter of 2025, more zzp'ers started their businesses and fewer stopped. The number of new entrants rose by approximately 1,800 (almost 4%) compared with a year ago. The number of those ceasing trading fell significantly (by 11.0%).

False self-employment checks

As of 2025, the Netherlands Tax Administration actively checks for false self-employment, where a zzp'er is in effect an employee for whom the employer does not pay employee contributions. The extra checks may have an effect on the number of zzp'ers registered in the Business Register.

All this led to a great deal of attention being paid to the growth in the number of self-employed workers in 2025. For this reason, the monitor was published every month. Now that the attention is less, we have reduced the frequency to once per quarter. The next monitor will be published in July 2026.

About the file

The KVK ZZP Monitor is a Word file. It is only available in Dutch.

Download the KVK ZZP monitor

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29-04-2026

This is what you get from the KVK ZZP monitor

1. Numbers of zzp'ers

Every month, you can find the total number of self-employed professionals, the total number of starters, and the total number of quitters. You can immediately see whether the number is higher or lower than in the same month a year earlier.

2. Self-employed trends over several years

The monitor also shows the development of zzp'ers over the past few years in a single graph. At a glance, you can see the development compared to the same month a year earlier.

3. Sectors with the sharpest decline

The monitor shows the 5 sectors where the decrease in the number of zzp'ers as the strongest. An Excel file is available with detailed figures on the 100 sectors with the most self-employed professionals.

4. Notable data

What else stands out? You can read about the most important developments of the past month in the KVK ZZP monitor.

Previous editions of the KVK ZZP Monitor (in Dutch)

More information

More figures and trends and reliable insights on Dutch business can be found at KVK Figures and Trends.