Dutch consumer more pessimistic about the future

Consumer confidence declined again in March. Consumers are obviously more negative about the immediate future. Opinions on the economic climate deteriorated substantially and reached an all-time low. Willingness to buy, on the other hand, dropped only marginally. Consumer confidence dropped from -30 in February to -34 in March. This decline was preceded by a period of four months in which consumer confidence was reasonably stable.

Indicators consumer confidence

Confidence in the Dutch economy reached an all-time-low. The indicator dropped from -62 to -68. Consumers have not been so negative about the economic climate before. Consumers were distinctly more negative about the economic situation in the twelve months to come than one month ago. Opinions on the economic situation in the past twelve months deteriorated only slightly.

Besides the increased pessimism about the immediate economic future, consumers were also a lot more negative about their financial situation in the twelve months to come. The indicator dropped from -8 in February to -16 in March. Only in December 2004, Statistic Netherlands registered a similar result. However, the opinion of the average Dutch consumer on the financial situation of their own household in the past twelve months improved marginally. Consumers’ opinions on buying expensive items hardly changed relative to a month ago. Altogether, willingness to buy dropped slightly.

Consumer confidence, seasonally adjusted