Consumer confidence down again

After adjustment for seasonal effects, consumer confidence has fallen for the second month in a row in June 2005, to -26. This puts consumer confidence back at the level of the beginning of the year. According to Statistics Netherlands’ consumer confidence survey, the fall was caused by consumer more negative opinions on the economic climate.

Consumers more negative on economic climate

Consumers are considerably more negative about the economic climate, especially the climate in the last twelve months. Their opinions on the economy in the next twelve months also deteriorated.

Willingness to buy stable

Willingness to buy has hardly changed in June, retaining its low level. The underlying components of willingness to buy did shift though: consumers’ opinions on their own financial situation in the last twelve months improved, while they were more negative about spending large amounts of money on items like furniture.

Rise turns to fall

Consumer confidence in the Netherlands increased In the first four moths of 2005. In May and June, however, it dropped sharply and at the end of the first half of the year it is back at the level of the beginning of the year.

The course of consumer confidence in the first half of the year was mainly determined by changes in opinions on the economic climate. Willingness to buy, on the other hand, hardly changed, and so consumer confidence remains low. At the end of the first half of 2005, there were on balance 26 percent more pessimists than optimists.

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