Industrial turnover falls by 2.6 percent in December

In December 2018, the monthly turnover in industry decreased by 2.6 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of 2018, producers managed to increase their turnover by 1.8 percent compared to the last quarter of 2017.

Monthly turnover in December was lower than a year earlier for the first time since October 2016, reports Statistics Netherlands. The selling prices in industry rose by 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

Domestic turnover rose by 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Foreign turnover was 1.4 percent lower.

In the run-up to Brexit, there are more companies that expect a negative effect on turnover than those that expect growth in turnover. Regarding employment, the majority is positive: producers in the industry expect to need more staff in the first three months of 2019.