Business confidence slightly up in Q2 2023

© CBS
In Q2 2023, business confidence rose to 7.5. This means the sentiment indicator is positive for the second quarter in a row. Business confidence is positive in most industries. The strongest rise was seen in accommodation and food services. Entrepreneurs in the construction sector are again the most positive. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK), the Economic Institute for Construction and Housing (EIB), the Dutch Organisation for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MKB-Nederland) and the Dutch Employers’ Organisation (VNO-NCW) on the basis of the Netherlands Business Survey (COEN).

The data for this survey were collected in April 2023.

With this increase, business confidence continues its recovery, after being slightly negative in Q4 2022. Last year, business confidence fluctuated between 16.8 in Q2 and -0.9 in Q4.

Business confidence
JaarKwartaalBusiness confidence
2018Q118.1
2018Q214.2
2018Q315.0
2018Q413.4
2019Q110.6
2019Q212.0
2019Q310.6
2019Q46.6
2020Q16.4
2020Q2-37.2
2020Q3-19.3
2020Q4-4.0
2021Q1-6.0
2021Q22.3
2021Q318.4
2021Q419.8
2022Q16.4
2022Q216.8
2022Q38.2
2022Q4-0.9
2023Q16.4
2023Q27.5
Source: CBS, EIB, KVK, MKB-Nederland, VNO-NCW

Strongest rise in accommodation and food services

Confidence increased most sharply in the accommodation and food services sector. Entrepreneurs in this sector are very positive about the realised and expected turnover, whereas they were still negative about their expected turnover in the previous quarter. In addition, they expect less negative economic developments than at the beginning of the year.

The highest confidence is found in construction. Entrepreneurs in this sector are much more posiitve about their output than one quarter previously. Their sentiment about the overall order position and expected staffing levels decreased slightly, but remained positive.

Confidence fell most sharply among entrepreneurs in car maintenance and repair services. In this sector, entrepreneurs are mainly negative about their stocks; they were still positive about this in the preceding quarter. Sentiment about the turnover achieved remained unchanged, while expectations for turnover in the next few months are less positive. In the transportation and storage sector, the mood deteriorated sharply and switched to negative.

Business confidence by sector
CategoryQ2 2023Q1 2023
Non-financial private sector7.56.4
Construction1612.6
Information and communication13.410.2
Wholesale and commission trade127.4
Accommodation and food services11.53.2
Business services9.48.7
Retail trade (excl. cars)6.53.5
Car trade and repair411.6
Manufacturing33.6
Mining and quarrying-2.9-6.6
Transportation and storage-3.43.5
Real estate activities-3.6-5.5
Source: CBS, EIB, KVK, MKB-Nederland, VNO-NCW

Less negative expectations about the economic climate

In Q2 2023, expectations about the economic climate improved again relative to the previous quarter. Expectations fell over four consecutive quarters to an all-time low in Q4 2022. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs remained predominantly negative about the development of profitability over the past three months. On balance, over 6 percent of entrepreneurs reported lower profitability in Q1 of this year compared to Q4 last year.

With the exception of construction, expectations about the economic climate are less negative in all industries this quarter than in the previous quarter. In the sectors of culture, sports and recreation, transportation and storage, information and communication, wholesale and commission trade and business services, expectations about the economic climate turned positive. Expectations were negative across all sectors in the previous quarter.

Expectations about economic climate by sector
CategoryQ2 2023 (% balance of enterprises expecting
improvement vs. deterioration)
Q1 2023 (% balance of enterprises expecting
improvement vs. deterioration)
Non-financial private sector-3.1-13.5
Culture, sports and recreation7.4-9.5
Transportation and storage6.4-10.9
Information and communication5.2-6.1
Wholesale and commission trade4-11.5
Business services3.4-4.6
Other services-0.1-11.5
Accommodation and food services-0.9-26.4
Manufacturing-1.9-4.6
Car trade and repair-4.2-10.8
Retail trade (excl. cars)-4.4-24.9
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries-9.8-19.4
Mining and quarrying-12.5-20.9
Real estate activities-17.6-22.1
Construction-26.4-25.8
Source: CBS, EIB, KVK, MKB-Nederland, VNO-NCW

Fewer entrepreneurs expect sales prices to increase

On balance, 20 percent of entrepreneurs expect sales prices to rise over the next three months relative to the previous quarter. This is the lowest share since the start of 2021.

The decline is particularly evident in construction, mining and quarrying and manufacturing. Despite the sharp decline, construction is still one of the sectors with the highest share of entrepreneurs who expect a rise in sales prices over the next three months. Entrepreneurs in accommodation and food services are most likely to expect higher sales prices in Q2.

Expected sales price development by sector
CategoryQ2 2023 (% balance of enterprises expecting an increase vs. a decrease)Q2 2022 (% balance of enterprises expecting an increase vs. a decrease)
Non-financial private sector20.145.8
Accommodation and food services38.255.0
Construction32.484.3
Retail trade (excl. cars)28.360.1
Wholesale and commission trade22.860.4
Culture, sports and recreation16.513.0
Car trade and repair15.332.8
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries14.936.5
Business services14.719.6
Transportation and storage13.726.0
Real estate activities11.910.4
Manufacturing11.753.2
Information and communication9.614.5
Other services8.718.0
Mining and quarrying-4.640.5
Source: CBS, EIB, KVK, MKB-Nederland, VNO-NCW

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) is currently making several adjustments to the definition of the Business confidence indicator. The aim is to improve comparability between the sectors, and the comparability between regional and national figures. The adjustments will be implemented at the time when the figures on Q3 2023 are published. More information is published on this website.