Consumer and business confidence

In July 2019, the consumer confidence index got better again moving from 109.8 to 113.4. The improvement was due to the positive trend of all its components. More specifically, the economic one rose from 121.4 to 129.7, the personal one from 105.6 to 108.0, the current one from 107.6 to 111.1 and, finally, the future one from 112.6 to 117.4.

With regard to the business confidence climate, the related index (IESI, Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator) increased from 99.3 to 101.2.

The confidence index in manufacturing slipped from 100.7 to 100.1. Assessments on order books worsened (from -14.0 to -17.7), while expectations on production improved (from 5.4 to 6.4). As regards to the assessments on inventories, the related balance passed from 4.1 to 3.1.

The confidence index in construction rose from 140.9 to 142.8. Assessments on order books/construction improved from -15.9 to -11.9 and the employment expectations worsened from 2.0 to 0.6.

The market services confidence index improved from 98.9 to 101.1. Looking at the variables composing the index, both assessments on order books and the ones on business trend went up (from -3.6 to -2.5 the first and from 5.5 to 7.5 the second one); at the same time also the expectations on order books ameliorated (the related balance increased, in fact, from 5.8 to 6.3).

The retail trade confidence index rose from 105.2 to 109.9. Both assessments on current sales and expectations on the future ones improved (from 7.7 to 12.0 the former and from 24.2 to 29.3 the latter). As for the assessments on volume of stocks, the related balance passed from 9.0 to 4.0. The improvement in confidence was not evenly spread across both distribution channels. In particular, the index actually grew from 105.8 to 111.5 in the large scale distribution and weakened from 104.4 to 104.0 in the small and medium scale one.