Exports down by nearly 4 percent in February

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© Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz
In February 2024, the total volume of goods exported (adjusted for number of working days) was down by 3.6 percent year on year, as reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Export volumes of petroleum products, machinery, transport equipment and food, beverages and tobacco were lower, in particular. The volume of goods imported was down by 4.2 percent relative to February 2023. This was mainly due to machinery and petroleum products.

The CBS Exports Radar of April indicates that conditions for exports are more unfavourable than they were in February.

Exports of goods (volume, adjusted for working days)
Year Month%-change (year-on-year %-change)
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
2022January1.2
2022February1
2022March-0.1
2022April-0.3
2022May2.3
2022June5.2
2022July0.5
2022August-0.3
2022September3.3
2022October8.4
2022November4.4
2022December4.3
2023January2.3
2023February4
2023March3
2023April0.2
2023May0.4
2023June-0.6
2023July-3.7
2023August-1.6
2023September-4.5
2023October-6.6
2023November-6.1
2023December-2
2024January-3.1
2024February-3.6

Conditions for exports more unfavourable in April

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 of April, conditions for exports are more unfavourable than they were in February. This is mainly due to the fact that opinions of Dutch manufacturers about their foreign orders were more negative and the year-on-year contraction of German manufacturing output was larger.

Sources

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