Italy: Consumer confidence tumbles in February as economy enters recession in Q4
The consumer confidence index released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) declined to 112.4 points in February from January’s revised 113.9 points (previously reported: 114.0 points), marking the worst result since August 2017.
Consumers’ assessments of the current general economic situation took a sharp dive, as did their expectations of the future general economic situation. This was likely due to recently released data on Q4, which shows that GDP contracted for the second consecutive quarter, throwing the country into the third technical recession in a decade. Additionally, consumers’ willingness to buy big-ticket items also plunged. On the other hand, consumers’ expectations on their future personal economic situation improved somewhat, as did their outlook on unemployment.