Dutch producer confidence in the economy plunged from 0.2 to an all-time-low of -28.7 in April, the national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday.

This is the biggest drop recorded in the history of the index, which the CBS began in 1985.

The transport sector has been hardest hit, while the food and drink industry are least pessimistic about the future, the CBS said.

The figures come a week after the biggest Dutch employers organisation VNO-NCW said just 1% of its members expect to profit from the coronavirus crisis and that 76% expected to cut jobs.

The CBS figures also show that production is down, with most companies working at just under 75% capacity, the lowest level since 1989, and down over 10 percentage points compared with last year.

Last week the CBS reported that consumer confidence had dropped to -22 points, its sharpest ever decline.