In November 2025, business confidence in the Netherlands declined to -1.7 from -0.8 in October, marking the first setback following five months of improvement. This figure also dropped below the 20-year average of -1.3. The decline was predominantly due to growing pessimism regarding finished goods inventories, which decreased to -7 from -4.7. Additionally, optimism about expected production over the next three months saw a decrease (9.6 compared to 10.7), although the negative sentiment concerning order books improved slightly (-7.7 as opposed to -8.5). In roughly 75% of the underlying industries, producer confidence worsened in November. The transportation equipment industry saw the highest levels of optimism, whereas the paper and printing sector exhibited the most negativity.