The purchasing power of the Dutch population increased by 0.3 percent last year, the smallest increase in years. That figure was low due to rising inflation in the fall of 2021, statistics agency CBS reported. In particular, pension recipients declined. Purchasing power is expected to be much lower this year and even drop significantly as prices will rise even faster this year.
External factors such as wages, price increases and government policies affect purchasing power. Personal circumstances, such as living together, breaking up or changing jobs, also have an impact on how much we can buy.
Purchasing power plummeted in the second half of last year as prices rose rapidly. This had to do with the reopening of the company, which combined high demand with limited supply. As a result, prices started to rise (relatively) rapidly from August 2021.
Ultimately, purchasing power increased for 52 percent of the population and decreased for the remaining 48 percent. Among the people who benefit from it are mainly employees. On the other hand, pension recipients actually decreased significantly. Three quarters of them went backwards.
Last year’s low purchasing power data is nothing compared to data forecast for 2022. Last month, the Central Planning Bureau (CPB) predicted that if the government did not come up with a new policy, the power of buying would have dropped 6.8% from last year due to skyrocketing inflation.
Purchasing power development over the past five years
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