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Dutch collectively agreed pay rose 4.0% year on year in the third quarter, a slower increase than a year earlier, while inflation-adjusted growth remained positive.
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Wages set by Dutch collective labour agreements rose 4.0% in the third quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, preliminary figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) show. Growth slowed from 4.6% in the same quarter of 2025, but agreed pay was still rising. [1]
After adjusting for inflation, collectively agreed wages rose 0.8%, extending a run of real-terms gains to 12 consecutive quarters. That figure is provisional: it uses price data for July and August, with a rapid estimate of September inflation due on 2 October. [1]
Pay growth was 3.9% in government, 4.0% in subsidised institutions and 4.1% in private companies. The government rate was up from 3.1% a year earlier, despite the slowdown in the overall figure. [1]
Specialist business services and construction recorded the largest increases, at 5.0% each; hospitality had the smallest, at 2.9%. CBS says three-quarters of Dutch employees are covered by a collective agreement. Its preliminary figures draw on 91% of the agreements used to compile the statistic. [1]
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