The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) declined by 5.0 points to 97.3 in the EU and by 4.7 points to 98.3 in the euro area. This was produced due to losses in confidence which is particularly marked in services, retail trade and among consumers.

According to the latest statistics published by the European Commission,the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) down further in August compared to July in both regions, for the EU and the euro zone. Confidence among consumers worsened in both the EU (-4.4) and the euro area (-5.3). Consumers were pessimistic about the future general economic situation and expressed higher unemployment fears. Their expected financial situation and their saving expectations were also assessed more negatively than in the past months. With regard to the confidence in financial services – not included in the ESI – strongly decreased in both the EU (-8.1) and in the euro area (-9.6), on the back of managers' negative assessment of past business situation and pessimism about expected demand for their companies' services.

Moreover, sentiment in services decreased strongly in the EU (-7.5), but less so in the euro area (-4.2). The difference between the two regions reflects a marked decrease in sentiment in the UK, in particular concerning the past evolution of demand. However, in both regions, past and expected demand were assessed as significantly worse. Sentiment in the retail trade sector dropped in both the EU (-5.8) and the euro area (-5.1), owing to managers' negative assessments of the present business situation and business expectations, and due to an increasing number of firms assessing their volume of stocks as too large. Sentiment in construction weakened in the EU (-1.0), whereas it improved in the euro area (+1.0). Employment expectations deteriorated in industry and in services in both the EU and the euro area. Managers’ price expectations declined in both industry and construction in both the regions, whereas consumers’ price expectations slightly increased.

Regarding the statistics by Member States, Germany (-5.7 points) and the UK (-5.6) reported the strongest decreases in sentiment, followed by Poland (-3.6), the Netherlands (-3.0) and, to a lesser extent, Italy (-0.7), while the ESI remained broadly unchanged in Spain (-0.3).