FX.co ★ Euro Area Economic Sentiment Unexpectedly Worsens

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the Eurozone dropped to 95.2 in March 2025, marking the lowest point in three months. This is a decrease from February's figure of 96.3 and falls short of the predicted 97. The downturn in sentiment was primarily due to diminished confidence across sectors such as services, which fell from 5.1 to 2.4, retail trade, dropping from -5.1 to -6.8, and among consumers, which declined from -13.6 to -14.5. Meanwhile, confidence levels in industry (from -11 to -10.6) and construction (from -3.3 to -3.4) showed relative stability. Among the major EU economies, the ESI saw notable declines in France (by 2.1 points to 96.4) and Italy (by 2.0 points to 97.6). Conversely, there was an improvement in Spain, with an increase of 1.1 points elevating it to 103.4. In Germany, confidence saw a slight increase of 0.3 points to reach 89.4, while it held steady in the Netherlands at 100.3.