According to the final report from the European Commission, consumer confidence in the eurozone rose in April, confirming economists' forecasts and reaching its highest level since February 2022.
The consumer confidence index rose to -14.7 points, as expected, compared to -14.9 points in March. Meanwhile, the economic sentiment indicator fell to 95.6 from 96.2 in March (revised from 96.3). Consensus estimates suggested growth to 96.9. The employment expectations indicator fell to 101.8 from 102.5 in March.
As for the EU countries, the economic sentiment indicator fell to 96.2 points from 96.5 points, and the employment expectations indicator fell by 0.5 points to 101.7 points. The marginal decline of the economic sentiment indicator reflected slightly lower confidence in industry and services, while retail trade, construction and consumer confidence remained broadly stable. For the largest EU economies, the ESI deteriorated significantly in France (-4.8) and more moderately in Italy (-1.3), while it improved markedly in Spain (+2.3), Germany (+1.5) and Poland (+1.5). The ESI remained broadly stable in the Netherlands (+0.3).
The data also showed that the indicator of economic uncertainty fell in April to 18.1 from 18.8 in March. Managers’ uncertainty about their future business situation decreased in all sectors as did consumers’ uncertainty about their future financial situation.