Consumer confidence plummets in NL; Biggest drop in history

The coronavirus crisis has been a blow to consumer confidence in the Netherlands, which fell from -2 in March to -22 in April. That is the largest decline ever, though not the lowest that consumer confidence has ever been, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

At -22, consumer confidence in April is far below the -5 average of the past two decades. Consumer confidence reached its all-time high at +36 in January 2000 and its all time low at -41 in March 2013.

The economic climate sub-indicator for consumer confidence dropped from -8 in March to -31 in April. "Consumers have never been as negative about the economy in the next twelve months as in April 2020," the stats office said. Consumers' willingness to buy also plummeted, from +2 in March to -17 in April, the largest decrease ever.

People in the Netherlands were also much more negative about future unemployment in April. About 85 percent of respondents expect unemployment to rise in the next 12 months, and only eight percent predict a decline. That brings consumer expectations for unemployment to -78.