CBS: Dutch incomes in 2025 rose faster than company profits

New figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have revealed that a larger share of money generated by Dutch companies went towards employees in 2025. This is because worker pay increased faster than business profits.

The Netherlands sees higher labour income share for 2025

In 2025, the proportion of The Netherlands’ total income that went towards employees or self-employed people, also known as labour income share, reached 70,6 percent, a slight increase from the 70,4 percent in 2024. However, labour income share has been on a steady decline since 1995, when it sat at 81,4 percent, reports CBS. 

The recent rise is due to the sharp hike in Dutch salaries in recent years to offset high inflation, which means that wages increased faster than the operating profits of companies. This applies to the whole Dutch economy, except for the government, education, healthcare, real estate, trade, mining and financial services. 

Biggest rise in income share for information and communication

The sector that saw the largest improvement in the amount of money that went towards workers was information and communication, rising from 77,2 percent in 2024 to 82,3 percent in 2025. Other sectors that also saw an increase include agriculture, forestry and fisheries, culture, sports and recreation.

CBS explains that certain industries have a higher labour income share than others because some sectors are more reliant on employees than on capital, such as machinery or transport. Worker compensation is therefore higher and operating profit is lower.