Italy's consumer confidence index dropped to 96.6 in November 2024, down from 97.4 the previous month, falling short of market expectations of 97.2.
Italy confidence worsens in November
This decline marks a further retreat from the two-year high of 98.9 reached in July, reflecting a stronger response from Italian consumers to the European Central Bank’s higher interest rates. The index tracking the current economic climate decreased to 98.7 from 99.2, while the future expectations index fell to 93.8 from 95.
Manufacturing index increases
The manufacturing confidence index in Italy rose slightly to 86.5 in November 2024, up from the near four-year low of 85.8 in October, exceeding expectations of a drop to 85. This unexpected rebound suggests that pessimism among goods producers may have reached its lowest point. The improvement was driven by better conditions for current orders (-21.9 vs -25.5 in October) and production levels (-18.5 vs -19.4). However, backlogs continued to decrease, hitting their lowest point since May (1.9 vs 2.6). Expectations for new orders worsened (0.9 vs 1.2), as did outlooks for production (-1.6 vs 0.5) and the overall economic outlook (-13 vs -12.9).
