ZAGREB, April 29, 2019 – Economic sentiment in Croatia deteriorated markedly in April on a wave of pessimism in the retail and construction sectors, which offset the very good consumer sentiment, the latest monthly survey conducted by the European Commission showed on Monday.
The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for Croatia was 112.2 points in April, down by 3.2 points from the previous month, ending two months of increased optimism.
Retail trade confidence fell the most, by 6.7 points to 9.5 points. Construction confidence decreased by 6.2 points to 15.1 points, after reaching its highest level in March since the Commission began tracking data for Croatia.
Industry confidence contracted by 5.9 points to 5.8 points, and services confidence by 3.4 points to 22.5 points.
The only bright note was consumer confidence, which increased by 2.8 points to its highest ever level of minus 3.4 points.
Economic sentiment also decreased in the EU, with the ESI sliding by 1.5 points from March to 103.7 points.
Industry confidence and consumer confidence fell the most, by 2.3 points each. Construction confidence dropped by 1.2 points, consumer confidence declined by 0.6 points and retail trade confidence by 0.4 points. On the other hand, services confidence increased by 0.4 points.
Among the largest non-euro area EU economies, economic sentiment shrank the most in Poland and the United Kingdom, by 3.7 and 1.5 points respectively.
The ESI for the euro area also decreased markedly in April, sliding by 1.5 points from March to 104 points.
More news about Croatian economy can be found in the Business section.
