Dutch consumer confidence has fallen for the third month in a row, new data from the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) has found.
Consumer confidence for the month of December stands at -25, compared to -19, the statistics body said, adding that sentiment about both the economic climate the the 'willingness to buy' has deteriorated.
According to CBS, Dutch consumers are now more pessimistic about the future health of the economy, as well as the performance of the economy over the past 12 months.
Consumers are also more negative about their own personal financial circumstances, both looking forward and retrospectively, and are likely to put off making major purchases.
Awareness Of Price Inflation
More than half (55%) of Dutch consumers also believe that prices have 'risen sharply' over the past year, which is the highest percentage since this criteria was first measured in 2017.
Those that expect prices to continue to increase over the coming 12 months stood at 33% in December, down from 45% in November.
Consumer confidence for December is well below the average of -8 for the month, as recorded over the past 20 years.
The lowest level for consumer confidence to date was recorded in March 2013 (-41).
'A Hard Blow'
Earlier this week, business representative group MKB-Nederland described the re-introduction of lockdown measures in the Netherlands, due to the rise of the Omicron variant, as a 'hard blow for many tens of thousands of entrepreneurs'.
They encouraged consumers to avail of click and collect services where possible in the run up to Christmas, in order to continue to support small businesses.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
