European economic fears grow with drop in commercial confidence
The confidence of European consumers and businesses dropped sharply in July, according to new statistics from the Commission.
The EU’s economic sentiment indicator (ESI) fell by 5.8 points, recording its largest decline since October 2001, to reach its lowest level since March 2003.
“Among the large member states, Italy and the UK registered significant drops.
The confidence indicators fell in all sectors, although the decline was particularly pronounced in services. Confidence also worsened further among consumers.
Almost all countries reported a fall in sentiment in July. Among the large member states, Italy and the UK registered significant drops (-9.6 and -7.2 respectively). Sentiment decreased also considerably in France (-4.7), Germany (-4.2) and the Netherlands (-3.9), while the decline was lower in Poland (-1.9). In Spain, following a drop of 6.2 points in June, sentiment recovered slightly (+1.2) but is still clearly below its long-term average.
