NRC Handelsblad started in 1970 after a merger of the Amsterdam newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad (founded in 1828 by J.W. van den Biesen) and the Rotterdam-based Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant (founded in 1844 by Henricus Nijgh).
NRC Handelsblad is currently part of PCM Uitgevers NV, a publishing company which is also the owner of De Volkskrant, Het Parool, Algemeen Dagblad and Trouw.
The circulation of NRC was 265,000 in 2002. The Dutch newspapers had a total circulation of 1.9 million copies in 2002.