Economic climate expectations of retailers in the Netherlands 2020-2021

Back in April 2020, many retail business owners had negative expectations of their financial future and the economic climate in which they would operate in the next three months. A widespread economic forecast survey revealed that the balance of positive versus negative prognoses was -43.6 percent at this time, indicating that there were much more negative responses than positive due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic). Over the course of later months, the figure had fluctuated considerably. In December 2021, the balance stood at roughly minus six percent.