A record number of freelancers and entrepreneurs in the Netherlands closed their businesses in the first quarter of 2025, according to new figures from the Chamber of Commerce (KvK). 

Nearly 61.000 Dutch businesses close in first quarter of 2025

KvK numbers show that a record 60.964 businesses shut shop in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 37 percent compared to the year before and the strongest increase recorded by the Chamber of Commerce in the last 10 years. Almost three quarters of the businesses that closed were sole traders or freelancers. 

The number of newly-formed startups also decreased - the biggest decline seen by the KvK in 10 years. In the first quarter of 2025, over 60.000 new businesses were registered with the KvK, a drop of 17 percent compared to the same quarter last year. 

Single-person businesses calling it quits following new law on self-employment

However, the reasons for businesses folding weren’t necessarily financial. Indeed, the number of bankruptcies recorded in the first quarter of the year fell for the first time in over two years, down from over 1.000 in the first quarter of 2024 to 892 in the first quarter of 2025. Most people apparently closed their businesses voluntarily. 

The KvK said that the developments were partly down to stricter rules for self-employment that came into effect earlier this year. The tax office announced that it would be performing stricter checks on freelancers to crack down on so-called sham self-employment (when someone registers as self-employed but works only for one client, so that the company employing them can dodge paying contributions to social security on their behalf). 

Josette Dijkhuizen, an entrepreneur and social professor at Tilburg University, told De Telegraaf that the high cost of energy, uncertainty about legislation, and the tight labour market were all factors in small businesses throwing in the towel. "If entrepreneurs quit while they basically have a healthy company, but can no longer do business due to external circumstances, that is a negative development,” she said.