Italian consumer and business sentiment deteriorated significantly in October. The consumer climate fell by 4.7 points to 90.1 points, as reported by the Istat statistics office in Rome on Thursday. It fell to its lowest level since the euro debt crisis in 2013. Analysts had only expected a drop of 1.3 points.
The index value for the mood in companies in all sectors slipped by 0.6 points to 104.5 points. The sentiment barometer for industrial companies fell from 101.2 points to 100.4 points, the lowest level since January 2021. Concerns about a lack of incoming orders dampened sentiment in both industry and construction. The climate also continued to cool in retail. (dpa)