Europe's economic sentiment falls in April

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) fell “markedly” in both the EU28 and the eurozone in April, said the European Commission on Monday.

“The deterioration of euro-area sentiment resulted from lower confidence in industry, retail trade and, to a lesser extent, in construction and among consumers,” the commission said, noting that confidence in services was stable.

The index in the eurozone fell 1.6 points on a monthly basis to 104 in April.

“Among the largest euro-area economies, the ESI rose only in the Netherlands (plus 0.4).

“While it decreased in France (minus 1.0) and Italy (minus 1.0) and, more significantly so, in Germany (minus 1.5) and Spain (minus 2.6),” it said.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

Over the same period, the ESI in the EU28 dropped by 1.5 points to 103.7.

“The commensurate decline of the headline indicator for the EU reflects the strong deterioration of sentiment in the largest non-euro area EU economies, the U.K. (minus 1.5) and Poland (minus 3.7),” the commission said.

“In line with the euro area, EU industry confidence took a blow and consumer sentiment weakened.

“While the deterioration of EU confidence in retail trade was less marked than in the euro area, EU confidence in construction worsened more strongly,” it said.

The commission also added that confidence in services rose moderately across the 28-member bloc.