Dutch Consumers More Pessimistic In January

(RTTNews) - Dutch consumers remained slightly more negative at the start of the year as the assessment of the economic climate in particular deteriorated, data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

The consumer confidence index dropped to -28 in January from -26 in December. Moreover, the indicator in January was well below the 20-year average of -10 points.

Among its components, the economic climate index stood at -50 in January versus -45 in December, indicating that households' assessment of the economic situation in the past twelve months and in the coming twelve months deteriorated.

The indicator for willingness to buy also decreased somewhat to -14 in January from -13 in December. Consumers also found the time for making major purchases somewhat less favorable than in December.

The recovery of consumer confidence after the absolute low in October 2022 stalled in the course of 2024, the agency said.