The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area edged up by 0.06 points to ‑1.21 in August 2012. By contrast, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased markedly by 2.0 points in the EU, to 87.0, and by 1.8 points in the euro area, to 86.1. In both areas, the loss in confidence was particularly strong among consumers, retail trade and construction managers.

The European Commission published its figures for August 2012 that indicates a slightly increase - by 0.06 points to ‑1.21, of the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area. The slight increase results from an improvement in managers' assessment of past production, export order books and the adequacy of stocks of finished products. However, managers' production expectations and their assessment of overall order books deteriorated. In May 2012, both, Economic sentiment and Business Climate Indicator, fell in the euro area.

On the contrary, in August the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased markedly by 2.0 points in the EU, to 87.0, and by 1.8 points in the euro area, to 86.1. In both areas, the loss in confidence was particularly strong among consumers, retail trade and construction managers. In the services sector the loss in confidence was marked in the euro area but more contained in the EU as a whole. While confidence in industry decreased in the EU, it remained broadly stable in the euro area.

With regard to the data by Member States, a majority of European countries witnessed a drop in economic sentiment. Among the largest Member States, sentiment worsened in Spain (-4.9), the UK (-3.1), Italy (-2.4), Poland (-1.8) and Germany (-1.0) while it improved in France (+0.4) and the Netherlands (+0.6).