ZAGREB, April 29, 2020 – Expectations for Croatia’s economy sank in April to the lowest level since the European Commission started collecting data, reflecting the pessimism of business people in the European Union and euro area as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) sank in Croatia by 31 points in April compared to March, dropping to 72.3 points, which is its greatest drop and lowest level since the EC started publishing reports on ESI.
The lowest ESI has been recorded in all sectors except in construction while the services and retail sectors had the most negative sentiment, with a drop of 49 and 47.8 points respectively compared to March.
Industry confidence and construction confidence fell by 27.8 and 28.9 points respectively.
The mildest decrease of ‘only’ 17.9 points was recorded in consumer confidence which did not plunge to its lowest level, recorded during the height of the euro area crisis in 2009.
The employment expectations indicator too fell drastically, by 29 points on the month, to 76.4 points.
The ESI crashed in April in the EU 27 and euro area and it was its strongest monthly decline on record (since
1985), surpassing by far the previous negative record from March.
In April the ESI in the EU declined by 28.8 points to 65.8 points while in the euro area it dropped by 27.2 points to 67 points.
The pandemic has impacted the most expectations in the services sector due to a ban on travel and hotels, restaurants and cafes remaining closed.
As for the largest euro area economies, the ESI crashed in Germany by 19.9 points, in France it dropped by 16.3 points and in Spain it went down by 26 points, while no data could be collected in Italy due to the strict confinement measures.
More economy news can be found in the Business section.
