The State of 2025: Number of Dutch farms and greenhouses continues to decline

Since 2010, the total number of agricultural and horticultural businesses has fallen by nearly one third, and compared to 2000 it has even halved. Between 2023 and 2024, 700 farms and greenhouses closed, in total a decrease of 1.4 %. The Netherlands now has 49,900 agricultural and horticultural holdings remaining. The sharpest decline is seen in dairy farming and in intensive livestock farms with pigs, poultry and veal calves. This decrease is linked to natural succession, stricter environmental regulations and voluntary termination schemes.

Yet, the number of very large farms is actually increasing. In 2024, 17 % of farms have been classified as small and 27 % as large, whereas in 2010, these shares were still 30 % and 17 %. Very large farms now account for 62 % of the added value of the Dutch agricultural complex.

“The figures show that Dutch agriculture continues to adapt to changing circumstances,” says Allard Jellema, project leader at Wageningen Social & Economic Research. “We see ongoing scaling-up, and at the same time a growing attention to sustainability and innovation. ‘The State’ helps to make these trends visible, enabling policy and practice to align more effectively.”

This snapshot of figures shows a sector in full transition.
Did you know that…
•    The agricultural complex accounts for 7.5 % of Dutch employment?
•    At the end of 2023, the average agricultural or horticultural business had over 4.4 million euros on its balance sheet?
•    The livestock population is shrinking, with 1.9 % fewer cattle, 3.1 % fewer pigs and 4.1 % fewer chickens?
•    A quarter of investments in agriculture, horticulture and fisheries can be classified as sustainable?
•    The number of organic farms has also declined, although the area of organically certified land has grown?
•    37 % of farms earn additional income from activities such as agri-environmental management, on-farm sales or care farming?
•    The fishing fleet shrank from 578 vessels in 2022 to 502 in 2024?
•    61 % of all our food is sold through supermarkets?
•    Dutch consumers annually spend 14.3 billion euros on food with a sustainability label?
•    Food waste continues to fall, from 137 to 127 kilos per person per year?
•    Supermarkets are increasingly offering hybrid meat products to move the protein balance closer to the goal of 50:50 animal vs. plant-based?
•    The poultry sector emits the most fine particulates?
•    Sales of chemical crop protection products have fallen by almost 25 % since 2020?
•    The amount of nitrogen produced by the Dutch livestock population in 2024 was 3.1 % lower than in 2023?
•    In 2024, 31 % of dairy and veal cows were permanently housed indoors; 12 % more than in 2023?
•    Since 2009, the sale of antibiotics for animals has fallen by over 75 %?
•    In 2024, there were 40 agricultural collectives managing agrarian nature on an area of almost 123,000 hectares?

The State of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Nature is published annually by Wageningen Social & Economic Research and Statistics Netherlands, with contributions from other Wageningen institutes. The publication offers policymakers, researchers and professionals an up to date overview of facts and figures on the Dutch agricultural, food and nature sectors. The data is drawn from sources including the WSER Farm Sustainability Data Network and the CBS Agricultural Census.

View all figures and trends at www.staatvanlandbouwnatuurenvoedsel.nl.

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