According to the results of the ‘Business and Consumer Confidence Surveys’ by the INE, the evolution of the consumer confidence indicator “resulted from the positive contribution of opinions on the past evolution and future prospects of the financial situation of the household, and to a lesser extent, expectations about the future evolution of the country’s financial situation.”
Conversely, the outlook for future major purchases by families contributed negatively.
The INE noted that consumer opinions on past price trends decreased over the last two months, “after having increased significantly” in July, while the balance of expectations about future price developments decreased in September, following increases in the previous two months.
Regarding the economic climate indicator, it increased in August and September, continuing the upward trend observed since April, with confidence rising in trade and manufacturing but decreasing in services and construction and public works.
The statistical institute detailed that the trade confidence indicator rose between July and September, after declining in the previous four months, reflecting positive contributions from business activity prospects and opinions on sales volumes.
The confidence indicator in manufacturing also rose from February to September, with the latest month reflecting a positive contribution solely from production expectations.
In services, however, all components contributed negatively to the confidence indicator’s evolution: opinions on the order book, assessments of business activity, and prospects for demand evolution.
Conversely, the confidence indicator in construction and public works decreased over the last three months, after rising in May and June, reflecting negative contributions from both assessments of the order book and employment prospects.
The INE further detailed that the balance of responses regarding entrepreneurs’ expectations about future sales price trends increased only in the industry sector, having decreased in construction, and for the last four months, in commerce and services, “notably in September.”
In September 2025, the information collection periods by the INE were from the 1st to the 15th (business days) for the consumer survey, with 1,151 responses obtained (telephonic interviews), and from the 1st to the 23rd for qualitative company surveys (‘webinq’) with 1,282 responses in the trade sector, 674 responses in construction, 1,465 responses in industry, and 1,430 responses in services.
