The S&P Global Eurozone Composite PMI slipped to 50.5 in March 2026, down from 51.9 in February and below market expectations of 51.0, according to preliminary data. The reading points to only marginal growth in the bloc’s private sector—the weakest expansion in ten months—as activity in the services sector nearly came to a standstill. New orders shrank for the first time in eight months, while employment continued to decline amid heightened uncertainty linked to the Middle East conflict.
On the inflation front, input costs rose at their fastest pace since February 2023, and output prices increased at the sharpest rate since February 2024. Supply chains also came under significant strain, with suppliers’ delivery times lengthening to the greatest extent in more than three and a half years. Finally, business sentiment deteriorated markedly, dropping to its lowest level in nearly a year and recording the steepest decline since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
