Last month the developments of the Dutch economy stagnated. There were no signs of recovery in June. Dutch industrial production actually even fell by more in April than it did during the first quarter.
Producer confidence, reflecting the confidence of entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry, stayed virtually the same in May. The value of imports and exports in April remained the same as in April last year.
In the seven previous months the imports and exports were still slowing down. So this slowdown came to an end in April. This is in part due to the extra working day we had this year compared to April 2001.
The price drops lowered the value of the international trade, just like they did in previous months. Consumption in April increased more than in the first quarter. Another positive point is that the inflation rate continues to fall gradually.
Consumer confidence, however, continues to fall. In June the consumer confidence index was down 4 points on May. Industrial entrepreneurs expect to invest 21% more this year since many of the investments that were planned for 2001 were shifted to 2002. The number of registered unemployed is increasing.
For more information please visit www.cbs.nl.
(source: Statistics Netherlands)
