In March 2020, the consumer confidence climate slumped from 110.9 to 101.0. The heavy deterioration affected all index components. More specifically, the economic climate plummeted from 121.9 to 96.2, the personal one deteriorated from 107.8 to 102.4, the current one went down from 110.6 to 104.8 and, finally, the future one collapsed from 112.0 to 94.8.
As for the business confidence climate, the index (IESI, Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator) crashed from 97.8 to 81.7.
The confidence index in manufacturing drastically reduced passing from 98.8 to 89.5. The assessments on order books fell from -15.6 to -23.9 and the expectations on production dropped from 0.7 to -17.1. Lastly, the balance of assessments on inventories slightly changed, moving from 3.4 to 3.7.
The confidence index in construction decreased from 142.3 to 139.0. Both its components went down: the assessments on order books/construction plans from -16.9 to -17.4 and the employment expectations from 4.8 to 1.1.
The market services confidence index tumbled from 97.6 to 79.6. Among the variables making up the climate, the balance of expectations on order books plunged from 0.5 to -37.4, the one of assessments on order books fell from -1.1 to -10.9 and, lastly, the one related to business trend decreased from 4.2 to -4.1.
The retail trade confidence index plummeted from 106.9 to 97.4. The drastic worsening affected in particular the expectations on future business whose balance tumbled from 28.0 to -9.4. Looking at the other index components, the balance of assessments on current sales increased from 13.3 to 16.1 and the one on inventories passed from 13.2 to 7.7. The retail trade confidence fell both in the small and medium scale distribution (from 102.3 to 92.7) and in the large scale one (from 109.0 to 99.4).