Compared to December 2020, the number of agricultural and horticultural businesses in the Netherlands that had to stop was 52% higher in 2021, as revealed in the December Business Trend Report from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.
Although the numbers are not very high, the increase in the number of stoppers in the agriculture and horticulture sector is still striking, according to the Chamber of Commerce. These are mainly entrepreneurs providing services to agriculture and/or horticulture, not agricultural companies themselves.
Prof. Dr. Joris Knoben, Professor of Business Economics at Radboud University, explained at the request of the KVK that "the number of voluntary stoppers almost always peaks at the end and beginning of the year. That is a 'natural' moment for entrepreneurs to quit. The reintroduction of fairly strict corona measures could also have been a reason for entrepreneurs to actually carry out plans to quit. The increase in the number of stoppers in agriculture and horticulture can probably be related to the huge long-term uncertainty that entrepreneurs have been dealing with."
Percentage of stoppers in some highlighted sectors. Chart from Business Trend Report for December 2021 from the KVK.