page_title: Economic history of the Netherlands (1500–1815)
section_title: The Golden Age
hierarchical_section_title: Economic history of the Netherlands (1500–1815) / Stages of development / The Golden Age
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Een aantal Oostindiëvaarders voor de kust. Op de voorgrond tal van figuren bij de kust, rechts een sloep.
context_page_description: The economic history of the Netherlands (1500–1815) is the history of an economy that American-Dutch scholar and economist Jan de Vries calls the first "modern" economy. It covers the Netherlands as the Habsburg Netherlands, through the era of the Dutch Republic, the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland.
  After becoming de facto independent from the empire of Philip II of Spain around 1585 the country experienced almost a century of explosive economic growth. A technological revolution in shipbuilding led to a competitive advantage in shipping that helped the young Republic become the dominant trade power by the mid-17th century. In 1670, the Dutch merchant marine totalled 568,000 tons of shipping—about half the European total. Pillars of this position were the dominance of the Amsterdam Entrepôt in European trade, and that of the Dutch East and West India Companies in intercontinental trade. Beside trade, an early industrial revolution, land reclamation from the sea, and agricultural revolution helped the Dutch economy achieve the highest standard of living in Europe by the middle of the 17th century.
context_section_description: These developments set the stage for the era of explosive economic growth that is roughly coterminous with the period of social and cultural bloom that has been called the Dutch Golden Age, and formed the material basis for that cultural era. During the numerous years of Dutch economic growth the average GDP per capita increased by 0.18 percent per annum; at about 1810 the growth rate was about 1 percent annually. Amsterdam became the hub of world trade, the center into which staples such as rye and luxuries flowed for sorting, processing, and distribution, and then were reexported around Europe and the world.
  In 1670, the Dutch merchant marine totalled 568,000 tons of shipping—about half the European total.
caption: Dutch East-India Men by Hendrick Cornelis Vroom
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