Horticul­ture chain grows despite uncertain years

The Dutch horticulture chain continued to grow strongly in recent years. This happened during a period marked by COVID-19, high energy prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and greater international competition. Production value rose from 26.8 billion euros in 2020 to 33.3 billion euros in 2024. This is shown by new Horticulture Figures from Wageningen Social & Economic Research.

Economic growth

The increase amounts to more than 24 percent. Even after adjusting for inflation, growth remained close to 6 percent. The figures were compiled for Greenports Nederland and the former Topteam Tuinbouw & Uitgangsmaterialen. Added value also increased. It rose from 16.2 billion euros in 2020 to 20.4 billion euros in 2024. This means the horticulture chain represents around 1.8 percent of the Dutch gross domestic product.

Employment rose to 208,000 annual labor units. That equals around 2.5 percent of total employment in the Netherlands. “The figures show that the horticulture chain is able to adapt, even under difficult circumstances,” says horticulture expert Peter Ravensbergen. According to him, companies continued to invest in innovation. They also generally strengthened their economic position.

Exports remain strong

Dutch horticulture also maintains a strong international position. The export value of horticultural products reached more than 28 billion euros in 2024. That is more than 25 percent higher than in 2019.

Around 65 percent of exports consisted of products from the Netherlands. Fruit, greenhouse vegetables, and cut flowers were the main export products. Import value came to more than 11 billion euros in 2024. Fruit accounted for more than half of that import value.

Innovation through WBSO

Innovation strength is reflected, among other things, in WBSO. Companies in the horticulture chain used 516 million euros under this tax scheme in 2024. That is almost 25 percent more than in 2019.

Wageningen Social & Economic Research took over the calculation from Statistics Netherlands. Due to changes in methodology and data, earlier editions are not always directly comparable. The new method was therefore applied to all figures from 2020 onward.

Wur.nl