Business & Digitalization Statistics 2026

SME businesses in the business economy At the beginning of 2025, the Netherlands had over 1.6 million SME businesses. Nearly 81% of these are sole proprietors.

of employees regularly use a computer with internet access At companies with 10 or more employees. This percentage remained unchanged compared to 2023.

of businesses provide mobile internet to staff Laptops, tablets or smartphones with mobile internet are widely provided. In 2014 this was only 66%.

of businesses support remote work In 2004, only 26% of businesses offered remote work options. Due to the pandemic and its aftermath, this has structurally risen to 85%.

of employees regularly work outside the office And have access to the company’s ICT system from there. This was 50% in 2021.

of businesses were innovative in 2020-2022 Of the innovative businesses, 93% successfully completed their innovations. Innovation and digitalization go hand in hand.

of connections have access to high-speed broadband The Netherlands has one of the best broadband infrastructures in Europe, with 99% coverage of at least 1 Gbit/s via cable or fiber optic.

new business establishments in 2024 A decline of 8% compared to 2023 (277,188 startups). It is the first time since 2014 that the number of startups has declined.

business closures in 2024 An increase of 11% compared to 2023 (147,482 closures). The combination of fewer startups and more closures is suppressing business growth.

startups in Q1 2025 A decline of 17% compared to Q1 2024 — the steepest decline in 10 years. At the same time, the number of closures rose to 60,964 (+37%).

increase in business closures in Q1 2025 From 44,590 closures in Q1 2024 to 60,964 in Q1 2025. The steepest increase in business closures in ten years.

of SMEs consist of sole proprietors The vast majority of Dutch SMEs are one-person businesses. Sole proprietors form the backbone of the entrepreneurial landscape.

SME AI adoption doubled in one year Specifically for SMEs, AI adoption rose from 13% to 23%, a growth largely driven by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT.

of total business revenue comes from AI-using companies Businesses that use AI technology were responsible for more than half of the total revenue of Dutch businesses in 2024.

of AI users deploy it for marketing & sales Marketing and sales is the most common application area, followed by administrative processes (30%).

of businesses use text mining Text mining is the most widely used AI technology, followed by natural language generation (12%). Both have grown significantly due to the rise of large language models.

AI adoption in the ICT sector The ICT sector leads by far, followed by business services (40%) and the financial sector (37%).

cite ‘lack of experience’ as reason to forgo AI Among businesses that considered AI but did not implement it, lack of experience was by far the most important reason.

of EU businesses use AI (EU average) In 2025, 20% of EU businesses with 10+ employees used AI — a growth of 6.5 percentage points compared to 2024. The Netherlands scores above the EU average.

.nl domain names registered At the end of 2025 there were over 6.06 million .nl domain names, a decline of 1.92%. The number of cancellations (812,000) exceeded new registrations (758,000).

Google market share in search queries Google dominates the Dutch search market with approximately 83% market share, making a Google Business Profile essential for local findability.

more direction requests with a complete Google profile Business profiles with recent photos receive 42% more direction requests. A fully completed profile demonstrably outperforms an empty profile.

average internet standards score for business websites The average score for the application of internet standards on business websites has risen from 60.4% in 2020 to 68.0% in 2025.

new .nl domain names in Q1 2025 Despite the overall contraction, thousands of new domain names are still being registered each quarter, showing ongoing entrepreneurial dynamics.

webshops active in the Netherlands The Netherlands reaches the milestone of 100,000 businesses with e-commerce as their main activity. Around 700 new webshops still launch monthly.

of Dutch consumers buy online In the first half of 2024, 81% of Dutch consumers purchased something online — a European record according to CBS.

of businesses have electronic sales Via website, app or EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). This percentage has remained relatively stable since 2013. Retail scores highest at 55%.

of online purchases via smartphone The share of mobile shopping continues to grow. Nearly 4 out of 10 online purchases are now made via smartphone.

growth in online spending on Home & Living The Home & Living category was the strongest grower, with a 46% increase in online spending, driven by kitchenware and household textiles.

spent online in Q1 2025 Dutch consumers spent over 9 billion euros online in the first quarter of 2025, a growth of 4% compared to Q1 2024.

growth in online product spending in 2025 Growth comes mainly from products (+8%), while services actually showed a 2% decline. This is the first time since the coronavirus pandemic that products have grown this strongly again.

cost of a basic website for starters and freelancers For a simple website of up to 3 pages with responsive design and basic SEO. Suitable for those just starting out.

cost of a professional business website The average price for a complete business website by a web design agency. Custom work or extensive functionality quickly costs €6,000+.

cost of an e-commerce website A full webshop including product management, payment integration and inventory system quickly costs thousands of euros.

hourly rate of a web design agency The average hourly rate of a Dutch web design agency. Freelancers charge similar rates, depending on experience.

website maintenance costs In addition to one-time build costs, you need to account for monthly costs for hosting, updates, security and maintenance.

have above-basic skills (information & data) In the area of information and digital literacy, 88% of people aged 12+ had above-average skills.

The Netherlands is European leader in digital skills According to CBS and Eurostat, the Netherlands has consistently been one of the best-performing countries in the EU for digital skills.

ICT workers in the Netherlands In 2023, 603,000 people worked in ICT roles across all sectors. In 2013 this was 334,000 — a growth of 80%.

ICT businesses active in the Netherlands At the end of 2023, nearly 100,000 ICT businesses were active in the Netherlands, together achieving an 11.3% growth in gross value added.

R&D expenditure in the Netherlands In 2022, the Netherlands invested €21.6 billion in Research & Development, representing 2.18% of GDP.

LinkedIn users in the Netherlands LinkedIn is growing across all age groups, especially among 25- to 39-year-olds. The platform is essential for B2B visibility and personal branding.

Instagram users in the Netherlands Of which 5.9 million are daily active users. Instagram is one of the fastest-growing platforms and indispensable for visual industries.

YouTube users in the Netherlands An increase of 185,000 compared to the previous year. YouTube is becoming increasingly important for content marketing and employer branding.

Facebook users in the Netherlands Facebook grew by 265,000 users in 2024. The platform remains relevant for broad reach, especially among those aged 40+.

daily LinkedIn users Of the 5.7 million LinkedIn users, 1.2 million are daily active. This makes LinkedIn the most targeted B2B platform in the Netherlands.

SME businesses were victims of cybercrime in 2024 According to ABN AMRO, a quarter of SME businesses were affected by cybercrime, with an average damage of €270,000.

average damage per cyberattack on an SME The financial impact of cybercrime on SMEs is enormous and can be life-threatening for smaller businesses.

of businesses use antivirus software More than 86% of all businesses with 2+ employees use antivirus software, regardless of company size.

of businesses use two-factor authentication A significant increase from 2017 (26%). At businesses with 10-50 employees, this has even more than doubled to 76%.

of micro-businesses use data encryption Among small businesses (2-10 employees), data encryption is limited (33%), while at large businesses (250+) this is 90%. A major gap.

data breach reports from cyberattacks in 2024 The number of cyberattack reports rose by 9% compared to 2023, and the number of data thefts by cybercriminals nearly doubled.

of businesses were affected by ransomware Of all businesses with 2+ employees, 1% were hit by ransomware in 2023. Although the percentage seems low, the impact per case is enormous.

of businesses are heavily dependent on cloud services The Netherlands ranks in the top 4 in Europe for this, along with Finland (65.9%), Denmark (65%) and Italy (61.9%).

of large businesses (250+) use cloud The gap with smaller businesses is significant: the smaller a business, the lower the cloud adoption rate.

more profit for SMEs using cloud software SME businesses using cloud software make on average 21% more profit and grow 26% faster than businesses that do not.

of EU businesses use ERP software Enterprise Resource Planning is widely used: from 38% at small businesses to 86% at large enterprises (Eurostat, 2023).

of EU businesses use CRM software Customer Relationship Management is less widely adopted than ERP, but is growing steadily. Dutch businesses score above the EU average.

expected growth of the Dutch cloud market by 2030 The Dutch cloud market is growing from €14 billion to an expected €30 billion by 2030, with the highest adoption rate in Europe (93% of all organizations).

faster growth for SMEs with cloud In addition to higher profits, SME businesses with cloud software also grow 26% faster, underscoring the business case for cloud investment.

of Dutch businesses achieve very high digital level The Netherlands has the third highest percentage of businesses with a very high level of digital intensity (DII) in the EU, after Finland (13%) and Malta (11.4%).

EU target for SME basic digitalization by 2030 The European Digital Decade aims for 95% of SMEs to have at least a basic level of digitalization by 2030. The Netherlands is currently at 81.5%.

EU target for advanced technology adoption by 2030 The EU wants 75% of businesses to adopt advanced technologies (AI, cloud, big data) by 2030. The Netherlands is at 71% for cloud and 23% for AI.

of EU businesses use AI in 2025 The EU average for AI adoption is 20%, a growth of 6.5 percentage points. The Netherlands (23%) scores above the average.

of large EU businesses use AI Adoption varies significantly by company size: 17% at small, 30% at medium-sized and 55% at large enterprises in the EU.

of European organizations seek sovereign AI Research by Accenture shows that 62% of European organizations are looking for sovereign AI solutions due to geopolitical uncertainty. Among banks this is even 76%.

of EU businesses use AI for text analysis The most common AI application in the EU is analyzing written language (11.8%), followed by generating images, video and audio (9.5%).

explosive growth of AI agents in business applications The jump from 5% to 40% in one year illustrates how quickly AI agents are becoming mainstream in business.

subsidy budget SME Digitalization & Robotization 2.0 As of October 1, 2025, €6 million is available for SME businesses that want to digitalize. The subsidy covers 50% of costs, applications are open until October 31, 2026.

maximum subsidy ‘Mijn Digitale Zaak’ Through the initiative of MKB-Nederland, KVK and RVO, entrepreneurs receive up to €2,500 (50% of quote) for digitalization. Commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

becomes the primary challenge for AI success in SMEs Experts predict that AI will only truly break through in SMEs when businesses break down their data silos. Without proper data integration, AI investments remain underutilized.

becomes a formal business function Large organizations are appointing AI Officers, while SME businesses opt for external audits or AI certification. Responsible AI use is becoming the norm.

help entrepreneurs with digitalization via university and vocational students In SME Digitalization Workshops, entrepreneurs receive practical advice from students supervised by teachers and experts, commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.