Consumer confidence slightly down

Consumer confidence decreased marginally in January. The indicator dropped from -28 to -30. Willingness to buy hardly changed, but consumers were more pessimistic about the economic climate than in the previous month. The number of consumers expecting prices to fall in the next twelve months increased significantly.

Indicators consumer confidence

Consumers have little faith in the economic situation. The indicator ‘economic climate’ dropped for the fourth month in a row and stood at -61, thus returning to the level of early 2003. Pessimism among consumers about the economy in the past twelve months and the twelve months to come increased.

Despite the prevailing pessimistic mood among Dutch consumers, their willingness to buy did not deteriorate further in January. Consumers were somewhat more pessimistic about buying expensive items such as furniture or washing machines than they were a month ago. On the other hand, they were far less negative about their own financial situation in the twelve months to come. Opinions on their own financial situation in the past twelve months remained unchanged.

No less than 17 percent of interviewed anticipated prices to be reduced over the next twelve months, an unprecedentedly high percentage. In the past decade, for example, no more than 3 percent of consumers anticipated price reductions. Consequently, consumers were far less negative about their own financial situation in the twelve months to come. With 84 percent, the proportion of consumers expecting unemployment to rise remained invariably high.

Consumer confidence, seasonally adjusted