Latest data released by Eurostat - 30 March 2021
- Economic confidence 101.0 vs 96.0 expected
- Prior 93.4
- Industrial confidence 2.0 vs 0.0 expected
- Prior -3.3; revised to -3.1
- Services confidence -9.3 vs -14.9 expected
- Prior -17.1; revised to -17.0
Optimism in the euro area continues to beat expectations as economic confidence rises slightly above the long-term average for the first time since the pandemic. Of note, Germany showed the largest improvement in sentiment with a jump of +7.9 to 103.7.
This reaffirms a more positive outlook towards 2H 2021 but the latest virus developments may still pour cold water on those expectations in the months ahead.