After the shocks caused by the COVID-19 crisis and the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine, which, which led to high energy prices and inflation, the Dutch economy grew slightly in 2024 following a contraction in 2023. Inflation remains higher than the Eurozone average. Dutch companies reported a higher operating profit in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2023 and 2024. At the same time, the debt ratio has also decreased. The need for external finance increased slightly from 13% in 2023 to 14% in 2024, but remains relatively low compared to earlier years.
New lending by the three major banks to SMEs stood at approximately EUR 13.7 billion in 2024.These three banks provide the vast majority of SME loans. As new lending in 2023 stood at EUR 10.8 billion, this represents an increase after several years of decline. The total outstanding business loans to SMEs decreased slightly, from EUR 113.6 billion in 2023 to EUR 113 billion in 2024 (DNB). It should be noted that not all banks active in SME finance are included in these figures.
Bank loans continue to be the main source of external financing for SMEs in the Netherlands, although alternative sources of finance are becoming increasingly important for SMEs. According to the latest Financing Monitor, 49% of financing applications in 2024 were submitted to an alternative financier1 and 5% were submitted to both an alternative and a bank financier. Only 46% of the applications were submitted exclusively to a bank. Financing needs smaller than EUR 1 million are more often directed to an alternative financier. Alternative financiers provide debt, equity or asset-based finance, such as leasing, factoring or crowdfunding.
Total venture and growth capital investments in the Netherlands continued to decline in 2024 after an all-time high of EUR 4.4 billion in 2021. In 2024, a total of EUR 1.9 billion was invested compared to EUR 2.2 billion in 2023. The total number of investments also decreased in 2024 (743) and 2023 (866) compared to 2022 (1019).
Total government investments in start-ups and scale-ups also declined from 539 direct investments in 2022 to 341 in 2023 and 269 in 2024. Although the total capital invested by government institutions is much smaller, they account for almost half of the total number of investments. In total, they invested EUR 219 million in 2024 compared to EUR 334 million in 2023 and EUR 330 million in 2022. This may partly be explained by the fact that most investments by government institutions require private co-investments. The regional development agencies and Invest-NL are the main government investors.
The number of SME bankruptcies increased in 2024, with a year-on-year increase of 32%. This amounted to 3 494 bankruptcies, which is in line with pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. In 2021, the lowest number of bankruptcies in two decades was recorded, with 1 440 bankruptcies filed. The number of voluntary business terminations increased after the COVID-19 pandemic and remained high.