In May 2019, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for Croatia recovered owing to an increased optimism in industry and among consumers whose confidence has reached the highest level since the European Commission started publishing indicators for Croatia, according to a report issued on Tuesday.

The ESI for Croatia in May rose by 1.3 points on the months, reaching 113.5 points.In March 2019, ESI was down 3.2 points on the month.

EU developments

the Economic Sentiment Indicator remained broadly stable in the EU (+0.2 points to 103.8).

The significantly more muted development of the ESI in the EU (+0.2) was mostly due to a strong deterioration in the largest non-euro area EU economy, the UK (-4.8).

Euro area developments

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) increased in the euro area by 1.2 points to 105.1 points.

The improvement of euro-area sentiment resulted from higher confidence in industry and, to a lesser extent, in services and among consumers, while confidence remained virtually flat in retail trade and cooled down significantly in construction. Amongst the largest euro-area economies, the ESI increased sharply in France (+4.0), markedly also in Italy (+1.7).