Nitrogen emissions and restrictions. What is the damage?

Nitrogen restrictions are leading to delays and cancellations of investments, but adjustments being made by businesses, governments and the workforce are limiting the economic damage to around 0.1% of GDP annually. The damage to health and nature caused by nitrogen emissions is considerably greater: approximately 1.6% of GDP annually. The costs identified in this study consist of economic damage due to investments that cannot be made and damage to health and nature.

The Ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur), Economic Affairs (Economische Zaken) and Finance (Financiën) have commissioned SEO Amsterdam Economics (SEO Economisch Onderzoek) and CE Delft to study the effects of nitrogen on the economy, nature and health. The research questions can be summarised as follows:

• What impact do excessive nitrogen emissions and changes in the legal framework have on economic activities per sector (housing, infrastructure, agriculture and industry)? And how is this impact quantified?
• How does nitrogen cause damage to health and nature? And how is this damage quantified in monetary terms?
• How high are (or: what is the order of magnitude of) the costs of the above-mentioned impact?

The Final Report on the economic impact of nitrogen pollution was sent to the House of Representatives by the Minister of Economic Affairs on 2 July 2025.