Dutch business confidence up in Q1 2023: Survey

The confidence indicator fluctuated last year and was negative at the end of the year for the first time since early 2021.

The investment outlook for this year is less positive than it was a year earlier.

This was reported by the Netherlands Business Survey conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK), the Economic Institute for Construction and Housing (EIB), the Dutch Organisation for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MKB-Nederland) and the Dutch Employers’ Organisation (VNO-NCW).

In Q4 2022, sentiment indicators were still negative in five of the eleven sectors for which business confidence is measured.

Pessimism has prevailed among entrepreneurs since last year; expectations about the economic climate fell in each quarter of 2022.

At the beginning of Q1 2023, 3 per cent of Dutch entrepreneurs expected an increase in investment for this year. This was 8 per cent a year before.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)