Exports down by over 3 percent in January

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© Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz
In January 2024, the total volume of goods exported (adjusted for number of working days) was down by 3.1 percent year on year, as reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Export volumes of natural gas, petroleum products, machinery, transport equipment and food, beverages and tobacco were lower, in particular. The volume of goods imported was down by 12.0 percent relative to January 2023. This was mainly due to natural gas and petroleum products.

The CBS Exports Radar indicates that conditions for exports in March are more unfavourable than they were in January.

Year Month%-change (year-on-year %-change)
2020February0.5
2020March-5.6
2020April-13.3
2020May-12.2
2020June-3.4
2020July0
2020August-3.6
2020September0.5
2020October3.1
2020November1.7
2020December-0.2
2021January3.8
2021February3.9
2021March12.7
2021April25.8
2021May22.4
2021June14.5
2021July11
2021August10.1
2021September6.9
2021October1.5
2021November8.9
2021December8.6
2023January1.2
2023February1
2023March-0.1
2023April-0.3
2023May2.3
2023June5.2
2023July0.5
2023August-0.3
2023September3.3
2023October8.4
2023November4.4
2023December4.3
2023January2.3
2023February4
2023March3
2023April0.2
2023May0.4
2023June-0.6
2023July-3.7
2023August-1.6
2023September-4.5
2023October-7.7
2023November-5.4
2023December-1.6
2024January-3.1

Conditions for exports more unfavourable in March

Every month, CBS also publishes updates on the conditions for exports in the Exports Radar. These are largely determined by developments in the key sales markets for domestic exports and by the competitive position of the Netherlands. Although the Radar indicators show a strong correlation with export activity, improved conditions do not necessarily mean higher export growth.

 According to the CBS Exports Radar, conditions for exports in March are more unfavourable than they were in January. This is mainly due to the fact that producer confidence in Germany deteriorated and the year-on-year contraction of German manufacturing output was larger.

Sources

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