A record number of companies went bankrupt in the first half of 2009, the country's Central Bureau for Statistics said Wednesday.
In all 3,500 businesses went bankrupt, double the number that failed last year and the most since the agency began keeping data in 1981. Personal bankruptcies increased by 16 percent to 1,800, the statistics bureau said. The Dutch population is around 16.5 million.
"Far and away the most corporate bankruptcies took place in the trade and repair industries and in the professional services industry," the agency said in a news release.
The data stood somewhat at odds with the country's relatively low unemployment rate of 4.8 percent, though the Dutch economy will contract by more than 4 percent in 2009, according to government forecasts.
In the trade and repair industries, the statistics bureau said auto dealers and repair shops, wholesale stores, do-it-yourself stores and clothing stores were the hardest-hit. Professional services companies that suffered most included temporary staffing companies, consulting firms, architects and design firms.
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