Euro Area Industrial Sentiment Weakens

The Eurozone industrial confidence indicator rose to -6.8 in January 2026, up from a revised -8.5 in December and well above market expectations of -8.1, marking its strongest reading since May 2023. The improvement was broad-based, with firms reporting more positive assessments across all three main components: production expectations, the current level of overall order books, and stocks of finished products. Outside the headline indicator, however, firms’ evaluations of export order books and recent production changes declined slightly.

The Euro Area industry confidence indicator edged higher to -9.0 in December 2025, up from -9.3 in November and broadly in line with market expectations of -9.1, driven by a notable strengthening in managers’ production expectations and more favorable assessments of current order books. These gains were partly offset by a deterioration in managers’ evaluation of stocks of finished products. Beyond the components included in the headline indicator, managers reported more positive perceptions of recent production trends and expressed reduced pessimism regarding export order books, pointing to a cautiously improving industrial outlook.

The Euro Area industry confidence indicator fell to -9.3 in November 2025 from a revised -8.5 in October 2025, which was the highest since September 2023, compared to forecasts of -8. The decline was driven by managers’ worsened production expectations and assessments of the current level of overall order books, which dominated managers’ improved assessment of stocks of finished products. In addition, both managers’ views on changes in past production and export order books worsened significantly.