Meanings
- economicsAn increase in the value derived from the natural-resources sector of the economy, leading to a rise in the valuation of the currency increasingly based on the natural-resources sector, and thus causing a deterioration in the manufacturing sector by making the manufactured goods less competitive in the export marketplace compared to those manufactured by economies with lower valuation currencies, because they are relatively more expensive.
Synonyms: Dutch curse
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn increase in the value derived from the natural-resources sector of the economy, leading to a rise in the valuation of the currency increasingly based on the natural-resources sector, and thus causing a deterioration in the manufacturing sector by making the manufactured goods less competitive in the export marketplace compared to those manufactured by economies with lower valuation currencies, because they are relatively more expensive.
Origin
Coined by The Economist magazine in 1977, to describe the situation in the Netherlands where a natural resources find of a large natural gas field caused the Dutch guilder to rise in valuation, depressing exports and causing the manufacturing sector to decline, that occurred after 1959.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Dutch disease. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dutch%20disease
“Dutch disease.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dutch%20disease. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dutch disease,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dutch%20disease.
Source: Dutch disease on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.