Dutch consumer still full of confidence

Dutch consumer confidence has risen marginally in April relative to March. This is mainly caused by an increase in consumers’ willingness to buy. Opinions on the economic climate hardly changed.

Dutch consumers are still optimistic about the future of the Dutch economy. Their attitude towards the economic situation in the past and coming twelve months remained invariably positive.

Willingness to buy increased in April. This is primarily due to a substantial increase in the number of consumers who are optimistic about their own financial situation in the past twelve months. Optimists outnumber pessimists for the first time in five years.

On the other hand, consumers’ opinions on their own financial situation in the next twelve months remained virtually unchanged. The number of consumers who think it is a favourable time to buy expensive items increased considerably compared to last month. Since December 2006, a small majority of consumers think it is a favourable time to buy expensive items like washing machines or cars.  

The consumer confidence index stood at 12 in April, which is fairly high. It means that optimists outnumber pessimists by 12 percent. On average, pessimists marginally outnumbered optimists over the past two decades. The long-term average is -3.

Consumer confidence, seasonally adjusted