Press Release: July 2012: Economic sentiment declines in the EU and the euro area

In July the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased by 1.4 points in the EU, to 89.0, and by 2.0 points in the euro area, to 87.9. The decline resulted from lower confidence in all sectors entering the calculation of the ESI. However, a loss of confidence in the services sector was the main driver of the decrease in the EU, while the euro area saw the biggest declines in industry and among consumers.