FX.co ★ Dutch Business Mood Weakens Further

In May 2025, business confidence in the Netherlands declined to -3.9 from -3.3 in April, further dipping below its twenty-year average of -1.3. This figure represents the lowest level since March of the previous year. The primary factor was diminished optimism among industrial producers about future production prospects, dropping to 4.3 from April's 5.8. Concurrently, companies grew increasingly wary about the levels of finished product stocks, with sentiment falling to -6.4 from -5.8. However, attitudes toward order books remained slightly less negative, with a shift from -9.9 to -9.6. Producer confidence was consistently negative across all sectors, with oil and chemical manufacturers being the most pessimistic, while wood and building materials producers expressed the least negativity.