---
source: National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)
url: https://www.istat.it/en/press-release/consumer-and-business-confidence-april-2026/
document_type: html
date_retrieved: 2026-04-29
period: April 2026
parent_publication: Consumer and business confidence
indicators_covered: [Business Confidence (Manufacturing), Consumer Confidence, Construction Confidence, Services Confidence, Retail Trade Confidence]
---

# Consumer and business confidence - April 2026

**Reference date:** April 2026
**Publication date:** 29 April 2026
**Source:** National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)

## Business Confidence (Manufacturing)

The manufacturing confidence climate declined from 88.7 in March to **87.9** in April.

Both assessments on order books and expectations on production level worsened (the balances of the variables decreased from -17.8 to -19.4 and from 1.4 to 0.7, respectively), while stocks were considered unchanged (the related balance remained stable at 2.2).

## Consumer Confidence

The consumer confidence climate declined further from 92.6 to 90.8.

- Economic climate: 82.7 (down from 88.1)
- Future component: 82.5 (down from 85.3)
- Current component: 96.9 (down from 98.0)
- Personal component: 93.8 (down from 94.2)

## Other Sector Confidence Indicators

**Construction confidence:** Weakened from 103.6 to 100.9
- Order books balance: -4.3 (down from -1.2)
- Employment expectations: 6.2 (down from 8.6)

**Market services confidence:** Worsened from 102.6 to 99.1
- Current order book level: 4.8 (down from 9.1)
- Current business trend: 7.0 (down from 11.0)
- Expectations on order book level: 5.5 (down from 8.4)

**Retail trade confidence:** Rose marginally from 100.5 to 100.8
- Current business trend: 12.1 (up from 8.0)
- Expectations on future sales: 17.1 (down from 20.2)
- Volume of stocks: stable at 6.4