Dutch Business Confidence Turns Negative Again

2026-02-27 05:53 By Kyrie Dichosa 1 min. read

Business confidence in Dutch industry fell to -1.1 in February 2026, returning to pessimism after a brief positive reading of 0.8 in January.

Expected activity weakened to 7.0 from 12.7, while order position assessments deteriorated to -6.5 from -5.4.

Stock judgments improved slightly to -3.9 from -4.8, indicating somewhat lower inventory pressure.

By sector, confidence remained negative in several industries, including food and beverages (-3.5 vs 0.6), paper and graphic industries, refineries and chemistry, and basic metals, which saw a sharp deterioration (-5.5 vs 0.1).

The textile, clothing, and leather sector also stayed in negative territory but improved (-7.0 vs -10.4), while transportation equipment slipped into contraction (-1.3 vs 0.0).

Meanwhile, confidence was positive in wood and building materials (1.1 vs -1.1), as well as in electrical engineering and machinery(5.9 vs 5.3).

Other industry and repair also remained positive, though sentiment eased to 1.6 from 6.0.



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Dutch Business Confidence Turns Negative Again
Business confidence in Dutch industry fell to -1.1 in February 2026, returning to pessimism after a brief positive reading of 0.8 in January. Expected activity weakened to 7.0 from 12.7, while order position assessments deteriorated to -6.5 from -5.4. Stock judgments improved slightly to -3.9 from -4.8, indicating somewhat lower inventory pressure. By sector, confidence remained negative in several industries, including food and beverages (-3.5 vs 0.6), paper and graphic industries, refineries and chemistry, and basic metals, which saw a sharp deterioration (-5.5 vs 0.1). The textile, clothing, and leather sector also stayed in negative territory but improved (-7.0 vs -10.4), while transportation equipment slipped into contraction (-1.3 vs 0.0). Meanwhile, confidence was positive in wood and building materials (1.1 vs -1.1), as well as in electrical engineering and machinery(5.9 vs 5.3). Other industry and repair also remained positive, though sentiment eased to 1.6 from 6.0.
2026-02-27
Dutch Business Confidence Turns Positive
Business confidence in the Netherlands’ manufacturing sector rose to 0.8 in January 2026, turning positive for the first time since March 2023, from -1.1 in December. Expectations for business activity strengthened, with expected production rising to 12.7 from 9.6. Sentiment toward order books also improved, as assessments became less negative at -5.4 compared with -6.0 previously, while pessimism over finished goods inventories eased further to -4.8 from -6.9. At the sector level, producers in other industries and repair were the most positive in January, followed by electrical engineering and machinery and transportation equipment, where confidence either improved sharply or remained resilient. Sentiment also strengthened in basic metals and metal products, supported by a firmer activity outlook and improved order positions. By contrast, confidence remained weakest in the textile, clothing and leather sector.
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Dutch Business Sentiment Improves in December
Business confidence in the Netherlands rose to -1.1 in December 2025 from a three-month-low of -1.7 in the previous month and above its 20-year average of -1.3. Manufacturers’ pessimism over finished goods inventories softened slightly, easing to -6.9 from -7, while the negative outlook for order books improved (-6 vs -7.7). In addition, Optimism for expected production over the next three months remained steady at 9.6, unchanged from November. The overall outlook strengthened across more than half of the underlying sectors. Producers in the transportation equipment industry were the most positive, followed by firms in other industries and the repair sector. Sentiment also recovered in the basic metals and metal production industries. In contrast, producers in the wood and building materials sector were the most pessimistic.
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