Unemployment development according to Belgian consumers 2018-2023

Every month a completely different representative sample of 1,850 people is questioned about the macroeconomic situation in Belgium and their own financial position and consumer behavior. The sample is representative for the geographic, social and demographic differences in Belgium and they are asked to answer a qualitative questionnaire with their own assessment or expectation. The questionnaire is built around different topics; the Belgian economic situation, personal financial situation and personal attitude towards savings and consumer behavior.
Macroeconomic questions on unemployment and the Belgian economy, and personal questions about the financial position of the household and the savings of the household are used to calculate the consumer confidence indicator. The source explains: "For each question, calculations are performed to find the percentage of all participating consumers reporting an improvement (positive responses), the percentage reporting a deterioration (negative responses) and the percentage stating that there has been no change. In calculating these three percentages, responses are unweighted and the difference between the 'positive' and 'negative' percentages constitutes the balance (the response) for the question. For example, if the number of positive responses equals the number of negative responses the balance for the question is zero; conversely, a balance of +10 means that positive responses outnumbered negative responses by 10 percentage points."