Netherlands residents trust in economy historically low

Consumers' confidence in the Dutch economy and their personal finances were both historically low in the past two months, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday. “Never before have so many consumers been so negative about the economic situation,” the stats office said. Though it noted that the prevailing sentiment is slightly pessimistic, instead of previous crises’ overwhelming pessimism.

Consumer confidence in the economy stood at -59 in September and October. This indicator is a weighted average of the economic climate and consumers’ willingness to buy. According to the stats office, the willingness to buy, in particular, was much lower in October than in previous periods of low confidence. Last month, 62 percent of consumers said it was not a good time to make a large purchase, like a car, furniture, or household appliances.

“The number of pessimists about their financial situation has been historically high in recent months,” the stats office said. That was mainly due to a striking number of consumers saying their financial situation deteriorated a bit. The share of people who said their finances are a lot worse is still lower than in the previous crisis in 2013.

The same applies to consumers’ opinions about their financial situation in the coming 12 months. Here too, most consumers are slightly pessimistic, but the share of highly pessimistic is still below the 2013 level.

According to the statistics office, the fact that consumers are largely only slightly pessimistic is because they only experience the negative effects of high inflation. In previous crises, they also had to deal with spiking unemployment and economic recessions. “Uncertainty about one’s job or actually losing it caused the proportion of severe pessimists to be higher in 2013 than it is today.”