KVK records more self-employed, while DNB sees a fall
The Trade Register is growing, but that does not automatically mean more people earn their main income as self-employed workers.
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The number of self-employed registrations in the Trade Register has risen by around 3 per cent since the start of 2025, the Chamber of Commerce reports. At the same time, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) sees a clear fall in the number of people whose main job is self-employment.
At the beginning of October, more than 1.8 million sole proprietorships were registered in the Trade Register, according to the KVK, around 50,000 more than at the start of 2025. In the latest KVK monitor, 1,825,347 self-employed workers were registered on 30 September, 1.1 per cent more than in the previous quarter.
According to the KVK, the growth mainly came from specialised business services and the information and communications sector. In Eindhoven, for example, there were 271 more self-employed workers in ICT and 205 more in specialised business services. In healthcare and social welfare, the number of self-employed workers fell in several municipalities, including Rotterdam, The Hague and Arnhem.
The figures concern registrations and do not directly represent the number of people doing their main work as self-employed workers. A registration can remain active while someone is temporarily employed, has fewer assignments or carries out another activity. According to the KVK, there were also 18.7 per cent more new starters than a year earlier in the third quarter of 2026, and 6.2 per cent fewer people stopping.
DNB uses a different measure. According to the central bank, the number of workers whose main job was self-employment was around 131,000 lower in mid-2026 than at the end of 2024, when the number was almost 1.3 million. DNB writes that many former self-employed workers quickly found other work, often in a different sector or occupation.
The difference between the figures is therefore not a calculation error, but the result of the definitions used. The KVK registers businesses in the Trade Register; DNB looks at people’s actual position in the labour market. The two series therefore answer different questions: how many self-employed activities are registered, and how many people work mainly as self-employed workers?
The development coincides with the end of the enforcement moratorium on bogus self-employment on 1 January 2025. Since then, the Tax and Customs Administration has again fully checked whether an employment relationship is in fact employment. The figures do not prove that enforcement is the sole cause of the fall among workers, but they do show that growth in registrations and actual self-employment can diverge.
For clients, the legal classification of the employment relationship remains decisive. The cabinet is working on a new Self-Employment Act, which under current plans should take effect in 2028, but the legislation still has to be considered by both Houses of Parliament. Until then, the distinction between a genuine business and employment will depend on how the work is actually carried out.
Both sides of the figures
▲ Bright spots
- The KVK counted 18.7 per cent more new starters in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier.
- DNB reports that many former self-employed workers quickly found other work, meaning the fall does not automatically indicate unemployment.
▼ Concerns
- DNB reported around 131,000 fewer workers whose main job was self-employment in mid-2026 than at the end of 2024.
- The growth in KVK registrations cannot be read as growth in the number of people who mainly work as self-employed workers.
Critical note
The KVK figure is a registration figure; DNB measures people’s actual labour-market position. These figures therefore do not show a clear-cut increase or decrease in all forms of self-employment.
Who notices what
- Businesses
- Clients must be able to demonstrate that the actual employment relationship supports self-employment.
- Workers
- Moving from self-employment into employment can provide greater protection against loss of income through illness or dismissal.
- Government
- The Tax and Customs Administration must assess different employment relationships while definitions and registrations diverge.
Every point comes from the article’s sources and was included in the fact check.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- On 30 September 2026, the KVK counted 1,825,347 self-employed registrations.
- DNB reported around 131,000 fewer workers whose main job was self-employment in mid-2026 than at the end of 2024.
- Since 1 January 2025, the Tax and Customs Administration has again fully enforced the rules on bogus self-employment.
- The KVK and DNB figures use different definitions.
Left
Arguments The fall in actual self-employment could indicate that workers are losing or regaining protection and social security, depending on the quality of the new work. Enforcement should prevent employers from using employees as cheap self-employed workers.
Values Employment protection, collective social security and a level playing field between employees and self-employed workers.
Consequences More employment could strengthen protection in cases of illness and dismissal, but stricter rules could also affect legitimate self-employed workers and sectors facing staff shortages.
Centre
Arguments The different figures must first be carefully separated. A combination of enforcement, changing assignments and moves between sectors could explain the shift; policy should above all provide clarity.
Values Practical enforceability, legal certainty and reliable statistics.
Consequences A clear statutory test could limit disputes between clients and workers, but would require time and proper implementation by the Tax and Customs Administration.
Right
Arguments Self-employed workers must retain the freedom to choose entrepreneurship voluntarily, and clients must be able to hire expertise flexibly. Growth in the Trade Register could show that entrepreneurship remains attractive, even as the government increases scrutiny.
Values Individual choice, entrepreneurship and a flexible labour market.
Consequences Overly broad enforcement could push assignments and innovation towards other types of contract or other countries; too little enforcement could undermine worker protection and tax revenues.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The key figures and definitions were checked directly with the KVK and DNB. The text clearly distinguishes between registrations and actual labour-market positions and avoids an unsubstantiated causal link.
- confirmed On 30 September 2026, the KVK registered 1,825,347 self-employed workers, 1.1 per cent more than a quarter earlier. — Stated in the KVK Self-Employed Monitor. source
- confirmed DNB reported that the number of self-employed workers in mid-2026 was around 131,000 lower than at the end of 2024. — Stated in DNB’s publication on former self-employed workers. source
- confirmed Since 1 January 2025, the Tax and Customs Administration has again fully enforced the rules on bogus self-employment. — The Tax and Customs Administration describes the end of the enforcement moratorium on 1 January 2025. source
- confirmed KVK registrations and DNB’s labour-market measurement capture different things. — Derived from the definitions and methods used by both sources. source
Editor's note
It is certain that KVK registrations have increased and that DNB sees a fall among people whose main job is self-employment. The figures measure different populations; the sources do not prove that stricter enforcement is the sole cause of the fall.Sources
- KVK Zzp-monitor: zo ontwikkelt het aantal zzp’ers in Nederland — Kamer van Koophandel
- KVK: meer zzp’ers ondanks aanpak schijnzelfstandigheid — ANP, gepubliceerd door De Dagelijkse Standaard
- Veel ex-zzp’ers vinden snel ander werk en wisselen daarbij van sector of beroep — De Nederlandsche Bank
- Schijnzelfstandigheid en arbeidsrelatie — Belastingdienst
More on this in Dutch media
- NOS — „zzp arbeidsmarkt”
- Het Parool — „zzp arbeidsmarkt”
- de Volkskrant — „zzp arbeidsmarkt”