The French industrial sentiment indicator decreased to 101 in April 2019 from an upwardly revised 103 in the prior month and slightly below market expectations of 102. It is the lowest reading since June 2016, as the balance for the sector on past activity fell further and more deeply (-1 from 6 in March) and that on personal production expectations also declined (9 from 13). Also, manufacturers' opinion on their global order books deteriorated slightly (-12 from -11), while that on foreign order books was unchanged (at -11). However, industrialists remained rather optimistic about the overall production outlook for the sector as a whole, although the corresponding balance was slightly down (-2 from -1). Regarding employment, the balance of opinion on the past evolution improved slightly (4 from 3) and that of expected workforce size was stable. Business Confidence in France averaged 100.03 Index Points from 1976 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 124 Index Points in June of 2000 and a record low of 66 Index Points in March of 2009.
Business Confidence in France is expected to be 99.00 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Business Confidence in France to stand at 102.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the France Business Confidence is projected to trend around 107.00 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.