Consumer and business confidence

In August 2019, the consumer confidence index worsened from 113.3 to 111.9. The worsening in confidence was spread across all its components: in particular, the economic one decreased from 129.6 to 127.8, the personal one from 108.0 to 107.0, the current one from 111.1 to 110.0 and, finally, the future one from 117.4 to 115.4.

With regard to the business confidence climate, the related index (IESI, Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator) decreased from 101.2 to 98.9.

The confidence index in manufacturing deteriorated from 100.1 to 99.7. More specifically, assessments on order books got better, while expectations on production changed for the worse (the related balances went from -17.5 to -16.7 the first and from 6.3 to 5.1 the second). As regards to the assessments on inventories, the related balance passed from 3.1 to 4.1.

The confidence index in construction went down from 142.8 to 140.4. Assessments on order books/construction decreased from -11.9 to -15.3 while the employment expectations remained essentially stable ( from 0.6 to 0.7).

The market services confidence index diminished from 100.0 to 97.4. All its components went down: assessments on order books and the ones on business trend worsened from -2.6 to -4.6 the first and from 7.4 to 3.5 the second one; expectations on order books lessened from 6.2 to 4.1.

The retail trade confidence index remained practically unchanged, moving from 110.0 to 109.9. With regard to the variables composing the index, the opinions on current sales continued to improve, while the expectations on the future ones changed for the worse (the related balance moved from 12.3 to 16.0 for the former variable and from 29.1 to 24.6 for the latter). Lastly, as for the assessments on volume of stocks, the related balance passed from 3.8 to 3.2. The retail trade confidence index improved slightly in the large scale distribution, passing from 111.6 to 112.3 but decreased in the small and medium scale one moving from 104.0 to 100.9.