Dutch CBS Statistics Scraper

Dutch CBS Statistics Scraper

Scrape Dutch CBS statistics tables and the full catalog, up to a million datasets per run. Every row comes with its official table ID, themes, modification dates, and OData-filtered values. No API key or registration. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) publishes thousands of official datasets, but the web portal is built for browsing one table at a time. This Actor reads the public OData feeds directly, so you can pull the entire table catalog or filter any table's rows by region, period, or value in one run.

Who uses it	What they scrape Dutch CBS Statistics for
Market researchers	Pull demographic or economic tables for trend analysis
Data journalists	Get official statistics for fact-checking and stories
Policy analysts	Monitor regional indicators across municipalities
Academic researchers	Build datasets for social science studies
Business intelligence teams	Enrich internal data with official CBS figures

What it does

This Actor collects CBS catalog entries or rows from a specific CBS table, and returns each record as a flat row.

• 📚 Catalog mode: list every CBS table with its ID, title, themes, and modification date.
• 📊 Table mode: pull rows from a specific table, with OData filters, column selection, and sorting.
• 🔍 OData filtering: narrow rows with expressions like "AantalInwoners_4 gt 100000".
• 📁 Flat output: each record becomes one row, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Dutch CBS Statistics data

📈 Track regional demographics.

A policy analyst pulls population figures for all Dutch municipalities and compares growth rates to allocate funding.

📰 Fact-check economic claims.

A journalist retrieves the latest unemployment table and filters by province to verify a politician's statement.

🎓 Build a research dataset.

An academic collects housing price indices over several years and joins them with income data for a regression model.

📊 Monitor business indicators.

A BI team schedules weekly pulls of retail turnover tables to feed a dashboard.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
Official source	Data comes directly from CBS OData feeds, not scraped HTML
No API key	Uses the public endpoint, no registration or token needed
Flexible queries	Full OData filter, select, and orderBy support
Scalable	Collect up to 1,000,000 datasets per run

How it compares

This Actor focuses on official CBS statistics, while the Nationalevacaturebank scraper targets job listings, a different data source.

Feature	ParseForge	Nationalevacaturebank Jobs Search Scraper
Scrapes CBS statistics	Yes	Not listed
Catalog mode for all tables	Yes	Not listed
OData filter support	Yes	Not listed
No API key required	Yes	Not listed
Scrapes job listings	Not listed	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a mode, a table ID, and optional OData filter, select, and orderBy expressions. Filters run server-side so only matching rows reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "mode": "table",
  "tableId": "82931NED"
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200,
  "mode": "table",
  "tableId": "82931NED"
}

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Dutch CBS Statistics Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Dutch CBS Statistics through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/dutch-cbs-statistics-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your OData filter expression. A wrong field name or value will return zero rows. Run in 'catalog' mode first to see available fields, or leave the filter empty to get all rows.

The table ID is invalid.

Table IDs are case-sensitive and must match exactly. Run 'catalog' mode to list all valid IDs, then copy the one you need.

I get an error about OData syntax.

Make sure your filter, select, or orderBy expression follows OData rules. Use single quotes around string values and proper operators like 'eq', 'gt', 'lt'.

The run takes too long.

Reduce 'maxItems' or add a filter to narrow the result set. You can also use 'select' to return fewer columns, which speeds up the download.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is CBS?	Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek) is the Dutch national statistical office. It publishes official data on population, economy, health, and more.
Do I need an API key?	No. The Actor uses the public CBS OData endpoint, which does not require authentication.
How do I find a table ID?	Run the Actor in 'catalog' mode first. It returns all table IDs, titles, and themes. Copy the ID you need into the 'tableId' field.
What is OData?	OData is a standard query language for web APIs. You can use $filter, $select, and $orderby expressions to control which rows and columns are returned.
Can I filter rows by region?	Yes. Use the 'filter' field with an expression like "SoortRegio_2 eq 'Gemeente '" to get only municipal data.
Can I select only specific columns?	Yes. Use the 'select' field with a comma-separated list of column names, for example 'ID,WijkenEnBuurten,AantalInwoners_4'.
How many datasets can I collect?	Set 'maxItems' to any number up to 1,000,000. The Actor stops after that many records.
What output formats are supported?	The Actor returns data in the Apify dataset, which you can export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Is the data in Dutch?	Yes, CBS publishes data in Dutch. Column names and values are in Dutch, but the structure is consistent.
Can I schedule this Actor?	Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run it daily, weekly, or at any interval.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.