Press Release: December 2011: Economic Sentiment declines moderately in both the EU and the euro area

In December, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) declined somewhat, by 0.8 points in the EU and by 0.5 points in the euro area, to 92.0 and 93.3, respectively. The overall decline in the EU resulted from weakening confidence in services, construction and among consumers, while sentiment improved in retail trade and remained broadly stable in industry. In the euro area, a worsening of sentiment was observed in services, retail trade and among consumers, while confidence in industry and construction was broadly unchanged.

Among the largest Member States, Poland (-5.0) reported the biggest decrease in sentiment, followed by Italy (-4.6), Spain (-1.3) and, to a lesser extent, the UK (-0.5). Sentiment was broadly unchanged in France (+0.1), while it improved in the Netherlands (+0.8) and Germany (+1.0). The ESI is above its long-term average only in Germany.