The “Business and Consumer Confidence Surveys” conducted by INE revealed that the consumer confidence indicator “increased in September and October, after a decrease in the previous month.”
Meanwhile, the economic climate indicator “declined in October, breaking the upward trend observed over the last three months.”
The rise in the consumer confidence indicator was driven by positive contributions from expectations regarding future significant purchases by households, the country’s economic situation, and the financial situation of households.
Conversely, opinions regarding the past evolution of household financial situations made a negative contribution.
In October, confidence indicators decreased in manufacturing and services but increased in trade and construction and public works.
In manufacturing, the confidence indicator fell after increasing over the last eight months, reflecting the negative contribution of production expectations.
Also declining last month was the confidence indicator for services, driven by negative contributions from opinions on order book developments and demand expectations.
On the other hand, the trade confidence indicator increased over the past four months, “significantly in October,” reflecting positive contributions from all components: Company activity prospects, opinions on sales volume, and assessments of stocks.
According to INE, in construction and public works, the indicator increased in October after decreasing from July to September, reflecting the positive contribution of assessments on order books and employment prospects.
The statistical institute details that the balance of business expectations regarding future sales price developments decreased in the trade, construction, and industrial sectors, while it increased in services.
For 2026, the majority of companies in manufacturing (55.9%) and services (71.1%) anticipate stable investment levels compared to 2025.
Conversely, 32.8% of companies in manufacturing and 20.7% in services foresee an increase in investment in 2026, while 11.3% and 8.2% of the surveyed companies, respectively, predict a decrease.
This edition of INE’s surveys collected data between October 1 and 17 (working days) for the consumer survey, obtaining 1,200 responses (telephone interviews), and between October 1 and 24 for the qualitative business surveys (‘webinq’), receiving 1,287 responses from the trade sector, 687 from construction, 1,460 from industry, and 1,401 from services.
