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Consumer and business confidence - December 2021

In December 2021, the consumer confidence index grew slightly, passing from 117.5 to 117.7. The small improvement was not common to all its components. In fact, the personal consumer confidence climate got better from 110.0 to 110.4, the current one varied from 115.2 to 115.6, the future one slipped from 121.0 to 120.8 and, finally, the economic one declined from 139.8 to 139.6.

As for the business confidence climate, the index (IESI, Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator) went down from 114.8 to 113.1.

The confidence climate in manufacturing decreased from 115.9 to 115.2. More specifically, the assessments on order books were considered to have improved (the balance increased from 10.0 to 10.5) and the level of inventories was assessed to have an increase (from -0.9 to 0.5, the balance). The expectations on future production went down (the related balance, in fact, passed from 19.6 to 18.6).

The confidence index in construction improved from 157.4 to 159.1. In more detail, the sector operators expressed positive assessments on order books/construction (the related balance went up from 2.1 to 5.7), but gave a less confident appraisal of the future employment (the balance of the variable went down from 5.9 to 4.5).

The market services confidence index weakened from 111.3 to 110.2. In a situation characterized by a sharp deterioration of the expectations on order books, the opinions of surveyed firms on both the order books and the current business trend went up. More specifically, the balance of the first variable plunged from 21.3 to 12.7, the one of the second increased from 14.8 to 18.1 and, finally, the one of the third improved from 9.9 to 11.9.

The retail trade confidence index showed a small improvement varying from 106.8 to 107.4. Like in the last month, both the opinions and the expectations on business trend improved and the level of inventories declined (the related balances went from 11.3 to 11.8 the first, from 16.0 to 16.9 the second and from -0.7 to -1.1 the third). Considering the breakdown of data by type of retail distribution, the confidence indicator improved further in the traditional distribution (it went up from 101.7 to 102.5), but remained almost stable in the “modern” distribution (in which it only varied from 109.1 to 109.0).