In March 2023, Italy's consumer confidence index increased to 105.1 from 104.0, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat). This was mainly due to improvements in several indicators, including the economic climate, current, and personal indicators. The future climate indicator remained steady, while the Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator (IESI) index, which measures business confidence, rose from 109.2 to 110.2.
Within the manufacturing sector, the confidence climate improved, with the expectations on production and assessments on order books increasing, resulting in a rise in the related balances. However, inventories decreased during this period.
Similarly, the retail trade sector saw an increase in confidence, with the assessments on the current business trend holding steady and expectations on the future volume of sales improving. The related balances for both varied, while inventories were considered to have declined.
