Key facts
- Italian business and consumer confidence improved in July.
- The consumer confidence index rose to 94.2 from 92.4.
- The composite business morale index increased to 95.6 from 95.3.
- The manufacturing sub-index for business morale rose to 89.6 from 88.6.
Italian business and consumer confidence saw an uptick in July, offering a positive signal for the euro zone's third-largest economy. The national statistics institute ISTAT reported that the consumer confidence index climbed to 94.2 from 92.4 in the previous month, surpassing the median forecast of 92.5 from a Reuters poll.
The composite business morale index, which aggregates surveys from the manufacturing, retail, construction, and services sectors, edged up to 95.6 from 95.3 in June. Within this, the sub-index for manufacturing improved to 89.6, beating the median forecast of 88.9.
Despite these positive indicators, Giorgia Meloni's government had previously lowered its economic growth outlook for the current and next year to 0.6%, down from 0.7% and 0.8% respectively. This revision was attributed to soaring energy prices and geopolitical instability in the Middle East. However, stronger-than-expected gross domestic product data for the first and second quarters indicated some economic resilience.
The government's long-term forecast projects a 0.8% growth rate for 2028, which would represent six consecutive years of sub-1% growth.