Flevoland: Strong development with growth above the Dutch average

Flevoland Monitor 2023 describes the state and development of the economy in Flevoland based on the data. Friso de Vor, Senior Researcher in Regional Economics at the Technological Knowledge Center at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, led the research with contributions from Rabobank and the County of Flevoland and commissioned by the Flevoland Economic Council.

space in Flevoland

Femke Rintsma, Chairman of the Economic Council: “The strong development of Flevoland can be explained by the fact that there is room for entrepreneurs. This means that Flevoland has won the gold medal, but at the same time the battle for space is intensifying. Think about housing, nature and energy transmission. This Means we have to be more selective with the space available so that it will be nice to live, work and live in Flevoland for future generations as well.

Strong economic development

Figures from the observatory show it exceeds the national average for many indicators. For example, over the past 10 years, the size of Flevoland’s economy (Gross Regional Product) has increased faster than the economy of the Netherlands as a whole. Employment has grown above average and the development of the number of commercial enterprises has gained momentum. Moreover, Flevoland seems to have dealt relatively well with the shock of the Corona crisis. The Corona crisis hit us less than anywhere else. After that, Flevoland’s economy picked up quickly again, says Windesheim researcher Friso de Vor.

One other conclusion is that Flevoland shows significant differences in orientation and rate of development for each sub-region. While quite a few common transformation issues appear, such as the field of sustainability and labor market development. “Who (recognizes) this diversity must answer these development issues,’ de Voor concludes. This also contributes to the area’s self-awareness: an important condition for making informed choices – now and in the future.

future challenges

Insights from the Flevoland Monitor form a basis that helps determine the direction in which Flevoland wants to develop and what is needed for this. Current (global) developments and a number of major transformation tasks related to sustainability, economic innovation, digitization and labor market development also pose significant challenges for the Flevoland economy. “Flevoland is a young and vibrant province that still has a lot of potential. For major challenges, the need for cross-sector collaboration and connections between knowledge institutes and the business community is becoming even more urgent. It is great to see that today, together with 200 people from the business community, knowledge organizations and governments, we are tackling For future challenges, says Chairman of the Board Fimke Rintsma.