Economic sentiment improves in Croatia, unchanged in EU

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in November markedly improved in Croatia compared to October, while this indicator remained mainly unchanged in the European Union, according to a press release from the European Commission.

Thus, Croatia's ESI jumped to 115.2 points in November, a record high since August when it was put at 117.2 points. In October this indicator slipped to 111.3 points in Croatia.

Expectations are rising in all segments of the Croatian economy, with the highest rise of 5.5 points in the services sector. The retail sector follows with the index increase by 3.5 points, and the construction industry sees a rise by 2.9 points.

In November ESI "remained broadly stable in both the euro area (+0.1 points to 100.8) and the EU (-0.1 points to 104.1). Following October's increase, the declining trend of the ESI observed since June has ground to a halt for the second month in a row."

In the euro area, consisting of 18 EU members that use the euro as their official currency, "the ESI's stabilisation reflected heterogeneous developments across sectors and among the five largest economies."

"At the sector level, confidence improved in industry and retail trade, remained flat in services and worsened in construction and among consumers. Looking at country developments, the ESI increased in France (+1.5) and Spain (+0.9), remained virtually unchanged in the Netherlands (+0.1) and decreased in Germany (-0.7) and Italy (-1.5)."

(Hina) ms

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