Italy: Consumer confidence drops in August
The consumer confidence index released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) fell to 111.9 points in August from July’s revised 113.3 points (previously reported: 113.4 points), which had marked the best reading since the beginning of the year.
August’s improvement was broad-based: the economic, personal, current, and future components all lost ground, although to varying extents. Consumers’ assessments of the current general economic situation and their expectations on the future general economic situation worsened significantly, likely due to the release of Q2 national accounts showing a stagnating economy. Additionally, some deteriorations were recorded in households’ assessments of their current financial and economic situation, as well in their expectations on their future financial situation. Meanwhile, households’ assessments of future saving opportunities plunged, as did their willingness to buy big-ticket items, while their inclination to save more in the present rose, most likely due to precautionary reasons. The only bright spot was that consumers’ outlook on unemployment grew rosier, likely owing to recent declines in the unemployment rate.