Italy‘s consumer confidence index fell from 97.4 to 92.6 in March 2026, according to Istat, the country’s statistics body.
The decline was evident across all components of the index – the economic climate sub-index saw a notable decline, from 99.1 to 88.1, while the future component decreased from 93.1 to 85.3. Elsewhere, the current situation indicator fell from 100.7 to 98.0, and the personal component declined from 96.8 to 94.2.
Business confidence, measured through the Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator (IESI), remained nearly unchanged, moving from 97.4 to 97.3.
Sector by sector
On a sector-by-sector basis, the manufacturing confidence index showed a slight increase from 88.5 to 88.8. This improvement was supported by more positive assessments of order books, while production expectations decreased, Istat noted. Inventory levels in manufacturing became marginally lower, the data showed.
The construction sector experienced a modest rise in confidence, with the index increasing from 103.1 to 103.6. Both employment expectations and order book assessments contributed to this improvement, with employment balances rising from 7.8 to 8.6 and order book balances moving from -1.3 to -1.1.
In the market services sector, the confidence index increased slightly from 102.1 to 102.7. This growth was supported by more favourable assessments of business trends and order books, which rose from 10.1 to 11.1 and from 6.4 to 9.2, respectively. However, expectations regarding future order books declined, with the balance falling from 10.6 to 8.6.
Retail sector decline
Italy’s retail trade, meanwhile, showed a significant drop in confidence. The sector’s index declined from 104.9 to 100.6. Both current and future sales assessments decreased, moving from 12.5 to 7.8 for present sales and from 29.0 to 20.6 for future sales.
Inventory level assessments, however, increased slightly from 5.6 to 6.4, indicating that retailers may hold slightly higher stock despite the drop in sales expectations. Read more here.
