Dutch economic sentiment declines as confidence dips in March 2025

Consumers in the country were more negative in March than they were in February, and producers were also more negative. Consumer and producer confidence were below the long-term average for the past twenty years, CBS said in its Business Cycle Tracer, a tool used to monitor the state of the Dutch economy.

The calendar-adjusted output of the Dutch manufacturing sector was 0.5 per cent higher in January 2025 than it was in January 2024. After adjustment for seasonal and calendar effects, manufacturing output rose by 1.0 per cent in January relative to December.

In January 2025, the total volume of goods exported (adjusted for working days) rose by 5.1 per cent compared to the previous year, driven by higher exports of machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, tobacco, and electrical equipment. In contrast, January 2024 saw a 0.4 per cent decline in tangible fixed asset investment, mainly due to reduced spending on machinery (including defence equipment) and road transport vehicles.

The country’s unemployment stood at 392 thousand in February 2025. The number of people unemployed increased by a monthly average of 7 thousand over the past three months. As a result, the unemployment rate amounted to 3.8 per cent in February.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)