# Netherlands has 160,000 fewer freelancers in under two years

> The number of freelancers without staff (zzp'ers) has fallen by 160,000 in 21 months, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) says, and its chief economist says stricter Belastingdienst enforcement is very likely behind the drop.

Economy · published 2026-10-30 05:50 · https://nlnow.nl/a/netherlands-loses-160-000-freelancers-in-21-months/

The number of zzp'ers has fallen by 160,000 over the past 21 months to about 1.115 million, CBS figures published on Friday show. At the end of 2024 there were 1.275 million.

**Why it matters**

- Since last year the Belastingdienst has been stricter when a working relationship turns out to be employment or agency work rather than entrepreneurship.
- Clients can face a back-tax assessment (naheffing) if irregularities are found.
- Fines apply where there is intent or gross negligence.

The decline is a break with the past: in 2013 there were 894,000 zzp'ers, and numbers rose in the years before the fall began.

The fall was mainly in healthcare, construction and trade, where the number of zzp'ers ended last year at 145,000, 120,000 and 85,000.

“That is a sharp fall. We see more self-employed people stopping while the inflow shrinks,” said CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen. He said it was very likely that stricter enforcement is behind the drop. “There was a turnaround at the start of 2025 and it continues this year. Fewer and fewer people choose to become a zzp'er.”

More zzp'ers also took jobs as employees: 68,000 in the first quarter of 2025, against 38,000 a year earlier. CBS says outflow has stayed higher than average since.

The Belastingdienst visited 842 companies up to and including October last year, looked at their books and advised them on preventing bogus self-employment. It has 80 FTE on the checks. A spokesperson said new figures on company visits will be published before the end of this year.

The Chamber of Commerce (KVK) counts differently. CBS goes by the work someone actually does, based on questionnaires. The KVK goes by business registration, so someone who is a zzp'er and also employed counts for the KVK but not for CBS.

## Background

- **zzp'er**: A zzp'er is a self-employed person who works as a freelancer, without employees, and takes on assignments or projects for clients. The term is used in the Netherlands for solo entrepreneurs, and the government and statistics agencies count them separately from employees. Whether someone counts as a zzp'er depends on how the work is done, not only on registration, which is why official counts can differ.
- **Belastingdienst**: The Belastingdienst is the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, the government agency that collects taxes and administers related rules and payments in the Netherlands. It also checks whether people who call themselves self-employed are genuinely working independently, to prevent bogus self-employment (schijnzelfstandigheid). Its company visits and advice to businesses are part of this supervision.
- **KVK (Kamer van Koophandel)**: The KVK is the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, the national body that keeps the Handelsregister, the public register of businesses in the Netherlands. Companies and self-employed entrepreneurs must register there, and the register is used to look up business details. Its figures are based on registration, so they can differ from statistics that are based on the work people actually do.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/