What’s the growth forecast for your country for 2022 and which industries are expected to do well in the coming year?

After the rapid recovery in 2021, in which the full-year growth is now estimated at 3.7%, the real GDP in 2022 is forecast to grow up to 3.1%. The biggest risks to this projection are the uncertain situation with the Covid-19 variants and rising energy costs limiting private consumption. On the other hand, consumer and business confidence remains relatively high and the unemployment rate has decreased, which may have a positive impact on overall consumption. The growth projections for next year are quite positive in all sectors of the Dutch economy, especially in the construction, business services, and catering industries. New outbreaks, like the Omicron variant, and scarcity of materials and human resources might affect that optimistic outlook.

How popular are e-vehicles/e-cars in your country and which vehicle/car brands are the most sought after?

E-vehicles are quite popular in the Netherlands due to strict emission targets in cities, a solid country-wide policy and regulatory framework, substantial and parallel incentive programs to develop charging infrastructure and to encourage the purchase of e-vehicles, and active public-private cooperation. Our aim for 2025: 50% of all new passengers cars sold will have an electric powertrain and a plug, and that, at least 30% of these vehicles will be zero-emission. In 2021, the number of zero-emission (BEVs and FCEVs) sales amounted to 13.5% of all new passenger car sales. By including PHEVs, this number increases to 23.9% of all sales. The most popular model: Tesla Model 3, but Mitsubishi Outlander and Kia Niro are also in high demand.

How’s electricity produced in your country and what are the major sources (including renewable and non-renewable)?

The Netherlands is aiming for a rapid transition to a carbon-neutral economy. Our targets for energy and climate policy are focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030 and by 95% by 2050. We have made progress, as energy production from renewable sources increased almost fivefold in the past decade. However, the Netherlands is still highly dependent on fossil fuels. Natural gas remains the largest source of domestic energy production, amounting to almost 60% of total Dutch energy production in 2020. Other important sources of electricity are both on- and offshore wind energy (almost 13%), coal (8%), solar (6.8%), and biomass (6.5%), and smaller shares from nuclear, oil and hydropower.