Economic sentiment in Croatia improved in December 2023 for the fourth consecutive month, reflecting industry and services confidence, a European Commission report showed on Monday.

Last month, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in Croatia went up 1.8 points from November to 109.7.

Services confidence picked up by 4.1 points, industry confidence by 2.1 points and retail trade confidence by 0.4 points.

Consumer confidence did not change from November, with consumers predicting a somewhat worse financial situation as well as higher prices in the next 12 months.

Construction confidence fell by 0.7 points.

The Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) increased by 2.9 points, while the Economic Uncertainty Indicator (EUI) went up by one point.

Improvements in both euro area and EU

In December 2023, the ESI increased in both the EU (+1.8) and the euro area (+2.4).

Services confidence increased the most, by 2.9 points in the euro area and by 2.1 points in the EU. Consumer confidence increased by 1.9 points in the euro area and by 1.5 points in the EU. Retail trade confidence also improved (+1.1 in the EU), as did construction confidence (+0.7 in the EU).

The EEI picked up moderately in the EU (+0.5 points) and remained virtually stable in the euro area (+0.1 points), while the EUI dropped by 0.9 points in the EU and by one point in the euro area.

Amongst the largest EU economies, the ESI improved in Italy (+2.6), Spain (+2.4) and Germany (+2.4), while it eased in France (-0.5).