Italy: Consumer confidence drops in November
The consumer confidence index released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) declined to 114.8 points in November from October’s revised 116.5 points (previously reported: 116.6 points).
Consumers’ expectations of the future general economic situation and their assessments of the current general economic situation deteriorated, driving the downturn, likely due to growing concerns about the recent turbulence in the financial markets and the stagnation of the economy in the third quarter. Meanwhile, their expectations on unemployment and their future personal economic situation as well as their assessments of future saving possibilities also worsened. On the other hand, consumers’ assessments of their current personal economic situation improved, as did their willingness to buy big-ticket items.