WILLEMSTAD - One of the most important results of the December 2020 Business Survey is that nearly 81 percent of the companies approached indicated that the pandemic had a negative impact on sales. Over time, this has had an effect on the size of the workforce: nearly 33 percent of companies have been affected.
The aim of the Business Survey is to provide up-to-date information on business and economic parameters and developments on a regular basis, twice a year. In addition, it should provide insight into the expectations and opinions of business owners. The companies were approached online, with small, medium and large companies participating in the survey.
The survey took place during the corona pandemic and the associated restrictive measures that were introduced. The consequence of this was that the activity and turnover of companies fell sharply. Compared to June 2020, the situation has not deteriorated further, perhaps under the influence of decreased COVID restrictions.
Main results Business cycle year 2020
More than 36 percent of the companies approached indicated that they had invested in the last half of 2020. That is 6 percentage points more than in June 2020.
39 percent of the companies indicated that there were investment obstacles, a high but slightly lower percentage than last June 2020 (41%).
In the opinion of the business owners, confidence in the economy has improved somewhat over the past period. The share of companies that have indicated that it has decreased went down from 84 percent (in June 2020) to 66 percent in December 2020.
Opinions regarding the investment climate have improved compared to June 2020. Fewer companies have indicated that the climate is bad, this has decreased from 67 percent (in June 2020) to 57 percent.
Compared to December 2019 (before the corona crisis), the percentage of "decline" in sales has risen sharply from 57 to 79 percent. Very high, but somewhat less than expected in June of that year (83%).
The share of companies that achieved a positive operating result in 2020 is 42 percent. That is more than expected in June 2020 (34%), but considerably less compared to December 2019 when it was 66 percent. No less than 58 percent of the companies interviewed had to deal with a negative operating result (24 percentage points more compared to 2019). A high percentage of companies thus indicated that they were unable to make a profit.
The business cycle index, aggregated based on confidence in the future, the perception of the investment climate and the turnover changes, amounted to 34 percent as of December 2020. In December 2019, the economic index was 53 and then fell to 30 percent in June 2020.