In brief
- The KVK business register lists just over 2.6 million business locations (30 June 2026).
- Basic data such as name, KVK number and business address is public; home addresses of individuals have been shielded since 1 January 2022.
- With the Non-Mailing Indicator a business states that it does not want advertising mail or door-to-door sales.
- The register is meant to identify parties, not to serve as a free address list; conditions apply to bulk data.
Every business operating in the Netherlands, and every legal entity, is registered in the business register (Handelsregister) of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KVK). Anyone who wants to check business partners or define a target group therefore always comes across the register. But what exactly is public, and what may you do with that data?
What is in the business register?
| Item | Public? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| KVK number | yes | eight-digit number of the business or legal entity |
| Branch number | yes | twelve-digit number per location |
| Trade name and legal form | yes | a business can have several trade names |
| Visiting and postal address | usually | the visiting address can be shielded in certain cases; the postal address remains visible |
| SBI code and description of activities | yes | since 6 September 2025 under the revised SBI |
| Directors and other officers | name yes, home address no | home addresses of natural persons have been shielded since 1 January 2022 |
| Non-Mailing Indicator | shown on the extract | do not use the address for advertising mail and door-to-door sales |
Phone numbers and email addresses are not basic register data. If you need them, you will usually find them on the company’s website, where providers of online services must also state their registration number (Article 3:15d Dutch Civil Code).
Shielded addresses
Since 1 January 2022 the KVK has shielded the home addresses of natural persons in the register by default (Dutch government, in Dutch). The business address remains visible. For many freelancers that is the same as their home address; they can have the visiting address shielded under certain conditions. For bvs and nvs that is only possible in the event of a threat.
The Non-Mailing Indicator
With the Non-Mailing Indicator (NMI) a business states that its visiting and postal address must not be used for advertising mail or door-to-door sales. The business applies to the KVK; the indicator then appears on the extract and in the files the KVK supplies (KVK). The NMI covers mail and visits, not email or phone; those are governed by the Telecommunications Act.
The KVK stresses that the rules for direct marketing apply regardless of where the data comes from: from the KVK, from a commercial supplier or from the internet. A good supplier therefore excludes addresses with an NMI from postal campaigns, or lets you recognise them.
Looking up and obtaining data
On kvk.nl you can search for a company and view basic data; an official extract is paid. For larger volumes the KVK offers the KVK Dataservice and APIs, subject to terms of use. There are also recognised KVK partners.
The government wants to restrict the use of business register data for direct marketing further. In a letter to parliament of 8 May 2024 (Kamerstuk 32761, no. 298) the minister announced a ban on using personal data from the register for direct marketing, as part of an amendment to the Business Register Act. Check the current status of that legislation before using KVK data for marketing.
What this means for a company list
- The business register is the right place to check a single company: does it exist, who is authorised, what is the address.
- For contact details, websites and public registers of professions are the usual sources.
- For postal campaigns take the NMI into account and, for sole traders, the right to object under the GDPR.
We do not obtain bulk data from the business register. How our Dutch company database is built is explained under data sources and methodology.
