| Actual | Previous | Revised | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Confidence | 94.3 | 93.7 | |
| Manufacturing Confidence | 88.3 | 87.3 | 87.4 |
| Consumer Confidence | 97.6 | 96.8 |
Highlights
Manufacturing confidence rose to 88.3 in October while overall business sentiment and consumer confidence rose to 94.3 and 97.6, respectively.
Consumer confidence was more positive than manufacturing, rising to 97.6 in October from 96.8 in September. This reflected improvement in consumer views about their household finances and the economic climate.
Overall business sentiment rose to 94.3 in October from 93.7 in September. Confidence in the manufacturing sector rose to 88.3 from a revised 87.4 in September with improvement in order books and expectations of future volume of production.
Retailers' confidence increased from 101.8 in September to 105.0 in October. This improvement is due to a rise in expected sales volume and a reduction in stock.
On the other hand, service industry confidence worsened, declining from 95.6 in September to 95.0 in October. This was due to concerns on the outlook for order books and current business trends.
Overall, business confidence, manufacturing confidence and consumer sentiment are all showing resilience despite the ill effects of US tariffs on Europe.
Consumer confidence was more positive than manufacturing, rising to 97.6 in October from 96.8 in September. This reflected improvement in consumer views about their household finances and the economic climate.
Overall business sentiment rose to 94.3 in October from 93.7 in September. Confidence in the manufacturing sector rose to 88.3 from a revised 87.4 in September with improvement in order books and expectations of future volume of production.
Retailers' confidence increased from 101.8 in September to 105.0 in October. This improvement is due to a rise in expected sales volume and a reduction in stock.
On the other hand, service industry confidence worsened, declining from 95.6 in September to 95.0 in October. This was due to concerns on the outlook for order books and current business trends.
Overall, business confidence, manufacturing confidence and consumer sentiment are all showing resilience despite the ill effects of US tariffs on Europe.
Definition
The Italian statistics office (Istat) conducts business and consumer confidence surveys over the first fifteen and ten working days of each reference month respectively. These provide information about current and expected developments in key sector variables. The largely qualitative results are synthesized for each survey into a single number that provides an overall measure of sentiment. Business confidence reflects the combined results of separate surveys covering manufacturing, retail, construction and services.
Description
If investors want to know how the business or consumer sectors are performing as they evaluate their investment decisions, they can find timely and in depth information in the latest Istat surveys. Although short-term swings can be erratic, changes in trends in confidence can contain very useful information about a sector’s underlying health well in advance of the release of the official data. Moreover, by including some forward-looking components (e.g. manufacturing orders or consumer buying intentions) the Istat surveys can also provide a potential insight into prospective developments.
