Abstract Background Small bowel neuroendocrine neoplasms (SB‐NEN) are rare cancers, population‐based studies are needed to study this rare indolent disease. The aim of this study was to explore trends in epidemiology, treatment and survival outcomes of patients with SB‐NEN based on Dutch nationwide data. Patients and methods Patients with grade 1 or 2 SB‐NEN diagnosed between 2005 and 2015 were retrieved from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and linked to The Nationwide Network and Registry of Histo‐ and Cytopathology in the Netherlands. Age‐adjusted incidence rates were calculated based using the direct standardization method. Survival analyses were performed with the Kaplan–Meier method. Results A total of 1132 patients were included for epidemiological analyses. The age‐adjusted incidence rate of SB‐NEN increased from 0.52 to 0.81 per 100.000 person‐years between 2005 and 2015. Incidence was higher for males than females (0.93 vs. 0.69 in 2015). Most patients had grade 1 tumours (83%). Surgery was performed in 86% of patients, with resection of the primary tumour in 99%. During the study period, administration of somatostatin analogues (SSAs) increased from 5 to 22% for stage III and from 27 to 63% for stage IV disease. Mean follow‐up was 61 (standard deviation 38) months. Survival data were complete for 975/1132 patients and five‐year overall survival was 75% for stage I‐II, 75% for stage III and 57% for stage IV. Conclusions This study shows an increase in the incidence of SB‐NEN in the Netherlands. A predominant role of surgery was found in all disease stages. Use of SSAs has increased over time.