Slovakia’s industrial confidence indicator declined by 1 point in March 2026 to -3.3, down from -2.3 in February, reaching its lowest level since November 2025. The deterioration was driven mainly by a renewed negative assessment of current industrial production (-7 vs 11 in February) and a more pessimistic employment outlook (-8 vs -5).
By contrast, some components showed signs of improvement. The evaluation of the current level of orders, while still negative, improved markedly (-3 vs -16), and expectations for future production inched higher (9 vs 8). The stronger production outlook was particularly evident in the manufacture of wood, paper, printing and reproduction, machinery and equipment, and basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations.
Moreover, sentiment regarding the current level of export orders became less pessimistic (-7 vs -15), and perceptions of stocks of finished products turned positive (16 vs -1).
