AMSTERDAM Economic growth in the Netherlands will be much slower than earlier expected this year, government policy adviser CPB said on Thursday.

Growth is set to drop to 0.7% in 2023 and 1.4% in 2024, the CPB said, after hitting almost 5% per year in 2021 and 2022 during a strong recovery from a COVID-19 slump.

The CPB in March had predicted an expansion of 1.6% in 2023 and 1.4% the year after.

The euro zone's fifth largest economy entered a recession in the first half of the year, as it shrank 0.3% in the second quarter after a 0.4% contraction in the first three months of 2023.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)