Economic sentiment in July hits all-time high in EU, euro area

By Yunus Girgin

ANKARA (AA) - Economic sentiment hit an all-time high in the EU and the euro area in July, up for a sixth month in a row, a European Commission statement said on Thursday.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in the EU rose 0.9 points from the previous month to 118.0, while the ESI in the euro area climbed 1.1 points to 119.0.

The eurozone/euro area or the EA19 represents member states that use the single currency – euro – while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.

But the statement said that compared to recent months, the latest improvement was much weaker, suggesting that the indicator is approaching its peak.

"The increase in July was driven by improving confidence in industry and services, while confidence weakened in construction and among consumers and remained virtually unchanged in retail trade," the statement said.

Industry and services confidence both posted improvements of 1.3 points, while consumer confidence and construction confidence fell 1.1 points and 0.8 points respectively.

Amongst the largest EU economies, France added 4.0 points, followed by Italy and Spain (1.7), and Germany (0.3), while the Netherlands (-0.3) and Poland (-0.7) both shed points.

The Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) remained flat at 111.6 points in the EU and 111.7 points in the euro area.

​​​​​​​Meanwhile, Turkey's economic confidence index rose 2.3% from June to 100.1 in July, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported on Thursday.​​​​​​​