At the beginning of the year, Dutch consumers exhibited a slight increase in negativity, particularly due to a worsening perception of the economic climate, as revealed by data from the Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The consumer confidence index fell to -28 in January, down from -26 in December. This figure is significantly below the 20-year average of -10 points.
Looking closer at the components, the economic climate index declined to -50 in January from -45 in December. This suggests a deteriorated perception among households regarding both the past twelve months and the outlook for the coming twelve months.
Additionally, the index measuring willingness to buy decreased slightly to -14 in January from -13 in the previous month. Consumers viewed the timing for making major purchases as somewhat less favorable than in December.
The recovery in consumer confidence observed since the significant low of October 2022 appeared to have stalled through the course of 2024, the agency reported.
