Historically low growth in Dutch business population: 1% increase in 2025

The business population appears to be under pressure: the number of starters fell by 10% in 2025 compared to 2024, while the number of businesses ending rose by 18%. The number of businesses ending increased in all sectors. The increase was particularly striking among zzp'ers (+19% ending), while the number of starting zzp'ers fell by 13%.

Remarkably, the number of bankruptcies fell by 21% in 2025 compared to 2024. One possible explanation is that entrepreneurs nowadays are more likely to stop before they run into financial difficulties.

“The Dutch business landscape is stagnating”

According to Joris Knoben, professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Tilburg University, the Dutch business landscape is stagnating. "That's not exactly positive. Dynamism and innovation are disappearing, and you can see that across the board: in the number of starters, the number of female entrepreneurs, the number of older entrepreneurs; there is little to no development. This resembles a stagnant economy, and that's not what you want. The question is: are there enough newcomers who can grow into the big companies of tomorrow?"

Knoben emphasises that the decline in starters is largely due to zzp'ers, but that the decline is visible in all types of businesses. According to him, uncertainty is an important explanation: both economic uncertainty and uncertainty about policy, such as enforcement of false self-employment, European developments and international trade tensions.

Help and advice for stopping businesses

The expected 'wave of bankruptcies' failed to happen again in 2025. The number of bankruptcies declared actually fell further. Knoben comments: 'In various sectors that we are seeing more and more of these days, such as business services, fixed costs are low and entrepreneurs are quicker to spot problems. This makes it easier for them to shut down in good time, before bankruptcy looms.'

KVK supports entrepreneurs who are considering closing their business. Christiaan Hazelaar, business advisor at KVK, says: "Many entrepreneurs don't like to talk about it, but closing down is also part of entrepreneurship. And there's more to it than just deregistering with KVK. It doesn't resolve tax obligations, debts or ongoing contracts. Entrepreneurs are often surprised by everything that still needs to be done. We think critically, look at what is realistic, what the risks are and what routes are available to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion."

Read the full report (in Dutch): Bedrijvendynamiek 2025.