Business sentiment survey

Statistics Netherlands conducts a monthly business sentiment survey among some 1,700 manufacturing companies. The survey aims to provide up-to-date information on economic developments in all sectors of manufacturing and in the manufacturing industry as a whole. The business sentiment survey comprises two types of questions: questions on actual changes and questions on opinions. Some questions are asked every month, others once a quarter. The question on the opinion about the company’s order books is asked every month. The answer categories are ‘large’, ‘normal’ and ‘small’. The question on whether production has been hampered by a shortage of staff is asked once every quarter.
The results of the business sentiment survey are often published as the net result of: percentage of positive answers (increase, improvement) minus percentage of negative answers (decrease, deterioration).