Industry expects declining investments in 2019

For next year, entrepreneurs in the industry expect to invest up to 7 percent less than in 2018. At the same time, they expect to have invested 44 percent more by the end of 2018 than last year.

That reports Statistics Netherlands (CBS) based on figures from the half-yearly survey on investment expectations among companies in industry. The investments concern tangible fixed assets, such as machines, factories and computers.

Last year, 8.7 billion euros were invested in the industrial sector, 9 percent more than in 2016. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), this is due to investments that were completed later than planned or were postponed to a later date compared to the planning.

This year, producers have invested mainly in expansion: 41 percent of entrepreneurs have indicated that this is the main reason for investing. For next year, they expect to replace assets mainly, especially for expansion and replacement purposes. There is also more attention for improving efficiency.