Euro area consumer confidence falls 1.1 points to -17.9 in October, flash estimate shows

Consumer confidence in the euro area fell 1.1 points to -17.9 in October, according to the European Commission's flash estimate, published on October 22. The EU indicator fell 1.2 points to -17.3.

What happened

The Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, known as DG ECFIN, said consumer confidence "fell further below its long-term average." The consumer confidence indicator is a balance of replies to selected questions in the harmonized EU consumer survey. The October flash is based on data collected from October 1 to 21 from 26 EU countries, all except Estonia, covering 99.8% of private final consumption expenditure.

The September revision

The Commission said that "September results were revised downwards due to the re-inclusion of Italian consumer survey data in the calculation of the European aggregates," and that the Italian data are subject to a methodological break between August and September 2026. The September flash, published on September 22, had put the euro area at -16.5 and the EU at -15.8, calculated without Italy; the October change implies a revised September level of -16.8 for the euro area and -16.1 for the EU (computed).

In September, the Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicator declined 0.5 points to 97.9 in the euro area and 0.4 points to 97.9 in the EU.

What to watch

The Commission will publish the full business and consumer survey results, including economic sentiment and employment expectations, on October 29. The next flash consumer confidence indicator is due on November 20.