dutch economy

The confidence of Dutch consumers is negative for the first time in four years. Both consumers' opinion of the economic climate and their willingness to buy declined somewhat, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Wednesday.

In February consumer confidence stood at -2, compared to 1 in January. Consumers are less positive about the economy than in January, with the economic sub-indicator falling from 3 to 1. Dutch consumers are also more negative about their financial situation, and therefore less willing to make large purchases, according to the stats office.

The Dutch economy will continue to grow, but not as strongly as in the past years, according to new estimates by the Netherlands bureau for economic policy analysis CPB. Despite this, the Dutch economy continues to grow faster than the average in the euro zone, ANP reports.

The number of Dutch people living in poverty decreased from 1.2 million in 2013 to almost 1 million in 2016, according to social and cultural planning office SCP. The SCP attributes the decline to the improvement of the Dutch economy after 2013, NOS reports.

The Netherlands is no longer one of the five best performing economies in the world, according to the World Economic Forum's rankings. In this year's ranking, the Netherlands came in sixth place, dropping two spots from last year's fourth, AD reports.

The best performing economy of the 140 economies tested is the United States. Singapore came in second place, followed by Germany and Switzerland. Japan completes the top five.

The disadvantaged position women have on the Dutch labor market costs the Netherlands billions of euros, according to a study done by consultancy firm McKinsey. If the Dutch labor market was as gender-equal as the best performing neighboring countries, the Dutch economy would get a 114 billion euros boost. If the labor market was totally gender-equal, that would generate 221 billion euros, Financieele Dagblad and NOS report.

The Dutch economy will continue growing this year and next year, though a bit slower than expected, central planning office CPB said on Thursday. The CPB expects 2.8 percent growth in 2018 and 2.6 percent in 2019, instead of 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent as the office expected in June, NU.nl reports.

The Netherlands is one of the countries that will be most negatively affected in the event of a so-called 'hard' Brexit - if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without trade agreements. Only Ireland will be hit harder, the International Monetary Fund calculates, NU.nl reports.

According to the IMF, a hard Brexit can cost the Netherlands 0.7 percent of its national income. Ireland will see a decrease of 4 percent.

The outlook for the Netherlands economy is still positive, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual report on the Netherlands. The IMF again raised concerns about the growth of wages in the country being smaller than other countries with comparable economies. Annual wage growth in the Netherlands is around 1 percent, too little to compensate for inflation, the IMF said, NOS and ANP report.

The Dutch economy grew by 3.2 percent last year, and more people in the Netherlands had work than ever before. Despite this, the growth in net disposable income is still lagging behind, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday.

In 2017 net real disposable income - the amount Dutch have left to spend after all premiums and taxes were deducted, corrected for inflation - grew by 1.5 percent. This was the third year in a row that Dutch had more to spend. But the growth is small compared to the 3.2 percent growth in the Netherlands gross domestic product. 

Almost all regions in the Netherlands saw economic growth last year. The Groningen region was the only one to see its economy shrink. The regions around Eindhoven and Almere saw the strongest growth, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday. 

In both the Eindhoven and Almere regions, the economy grew by 4.9 percent last year compared to 2016. In Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant - Eindhoven and its surroundings - last year's economic growth was mainly supported by industry and business services. In Almere, lease companies in particular contributed to the economic growth. 

The Dutch economy grew by 3.1 percent in 2017, the strongest growth in 10 years, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

In the last quarter of 2017, the economy's growth decreased somewhat, but was still strong at 2.9 percent compared to the last quarter of 2016. Compared to the third quarter of 2017, the GDP grew by 0.8 percent. 

Investments and exports in particular contributed to economic growth in the fourth quarter. Household consumption decreased somewhat, but the industry grew more.