Consumer confidence and economic climate indicators increased in August

Portugal’s consumer confidence and economic climate indicators recovered in August after registering a fall in July, according to Statistics Portugal (INE).

“All the confidence indicators are above the levels observed at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020),” the statistics office said in a statement.

Looking at consumer confidence, it has “recovered in August from the decline registered in the previous month, after increasing significantly between March and May and slightly in June”. INE explains that this situation was caused by the “positive contribution of the perspectives regarding the future evolution of the country’s economic situation.”

As for the economic climate indicator, there was also a trend towards recovery during this month. Looking at sectors, “confidence indicators increased in August in Construction and Public Works, Trade and Services, especially in the former case, while the confidence indicator in Manufacturing Industry decreased in the last two months.”

According to Statistics Portugal, the fall in the manufacturing confidence indicator “reflected the negative contribution of the firm’s production perspectives, while the opinions on the evolution of the overall order books in the last three months and the opinions on the current stocks of finished products contributed positively.”