Banks remain important for company funding in the Netherlands, as can be seen in the growth of
since 2017. Bank loans largely focus on real estate mortgages, due to how the domestic housing market is structured. Agriculture and trade companies, however, are the
. Agricultural companies are likely to apply for bank loans for two reasons. First, they are most likely in need of external financing (due to machinery etc.) and they are actively looking for this, bringing them in easy contact with banks. On the other hand, they often have a mortgage with the same bank already. The use of non-bank financing, or alternative finance, did increase over the years, however. The
, or the sales of company invoices, grew by nearly 15 percent between 2019 and 2018.
Leasing in the Netherlands
When it comes to non-bank loans, leasing contracts are a popular funding source for companies. In 2019, the
value of new equipment lease contracts in the Netherlands grew by over eight percent year-on-year. This familiarity with leasing is, to a certain extent, reflected in the Dutch market for business cars. Leasing a passenger car through company lease (in Dutch commonly referred to as <"een auto van de zaak krijgen", or "getting a car from your company") is a popular choice, as can be seen in the
number of leased business passenger cars. On the other hand, when
SME entrepreneurs were asked in 2019 whether they used leasing or not, more than half of the respondents said this funding source was not relevant for their enterprise.
Venture capital: a domestic affair
Are Dutch companies a popular investment for venture capital firms outside the country? Not in 2019, as
venture capital investments originating from foreign firms decreased by more than 20 percent that year. Domestic investments, however, reached their highest-recorded value that year. The
most popular business segments for these types of investments in the Netherlands were health and biotech, reaching an overall value in 2019 that was almost twice as high as early investments into IT. As a whole, Amsterdam is considered to have a
smaller start-up scene than other European capital cities.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
liability for the information given being complete or correct.
Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
