“The mindset of ‘measuring is knowing’ and ‘knowing is learning’ allows us to set clear and realistic goals and guides us towards results for Dutch citizens and businesses,” said President Pieter Duisenberg of the Netherlands Court of Audit on the publication of the 2025 Activity Report. The report looks back at Court of Audit’s audits and investigations during the past year and the lessons to be learned from them.
The Activity Report assesses and evaluates the Court of Audit’s own work. It provides an overview of all publications and explains some publications and other activities in greater detail. The Court issued 61 publications last year, 30 of which were audit reports. In total, 47 performance audits, 22 financial audits and 26 other investigations provided an insight into the results achieved with public money. All these figures can be found in the mission dashboard in the report.
The report also looks back at special investigations and projects carried out in 2025. For example, there were major studies on the state’s use of the cloud and the shortage of general practitioners, which were extensively discussed with stakeholders. Both reports generated a great deal of impact, both in parliament and society. The Court also put in an appearance at Dutch Design Week for the first time to collect signals from all levels of society.
Simultaneously with dashboard
The report is published at the same time as a new dashboard entitled Look at the Netherlands: Goals and Results. In the report, Pieter Duisenberg explains the idea behind the dashboard: “It captures at a glance where we stand on a number of important wellbeing or financially measurable goals that politicians have at their disposal, and whether the Netherlands is on track to meet its commitments and targets set out in multiannual policies, laws and international treaties. It lets us see whether the goals are being achieved or not. You can only make adjustments if you have a clear idea of where you are and where you want to go.”