According to the first estimate of Statistics Netherlands' quarterly accounts, the Dutch economy grew by 0.9 percent in the third quarter of 2005.
The gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.9 percent higher than one year previously.
Employment was 0.2 percent lower than in the same period last year, although the fall in the number of jobs was much smaller than in previous quarters.
GDP was not only pushed up by an increase in exports, but also by higher household spending and increasing investment spending.
After correction for seasonal and working day effects, the volume of GDP in the third quarter was 0.3 percent up on the second quarter of 2005.
This quarter of-quarter growth is moderate. In the last two quarters GDP underwent extreme positive and negative changes.
Export growth rate down slightly
The volume of exports and services was 4.7 percent higher in the third quarter of 2005 than twelve months previously.
This increase is slightly smaller than in the first half of the year. The increase is almost completely on account of reexports, i.e. the export of goods produced elsewhere, for example China, the US and Taiwan.
These are distributed via the Netherlands after having
undergone some small form of processing, or no processing at all in the Netherlands.
Highest household consumption for three years
Households spent 1.0 percent more after adjustment for price changes in the third quarter of 2005 than in the same quarter last year.
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