In October, the seasonally adjusted three-months moving average of the economic sentiment indicator (ESI), increased very slightly by 0,7 points to 88,4. The confidence significantly increased in industry. In contrast, it considerably dropped in services, in construction, in trade and slightly among consumers. ESI is currently lagging behind the value of the corresponding period last year by 9,8 points and it is below the long-term average by 14,9 points.

In October, the confidence indicator in industry increased by 13 percentage points (p. p.) to the value 4 (from seasonally adjusted data), thus reaching the level above the long-term average and the highest value since April 2018. The development of the indicator was the most significantly influenced by the expected increase of the production over the next three months.  In October compared with the previous month, the confidence indicator in construction decreased by 7 points to -49,5 due to less favourable evaluations of the overall level of orders and the expected employment. The current result is below the long-term average by 25,5 points. In October compared with September, confidence indicator in trade dropped by 5,3 p. p. to 3 due to negative evaluations of the expected business activities (from seasonally adjusted data). In October, the seasonally adjusted confidence indicator in services slightly decreased again after a four-months increase. Its value (-12) decreased by 11 p. p. compared with September. The indicator´s development was affected by more negative evaluations of all its three components.

At the beginning of October, the consumer mood in Slovakia was slightly more pessimistic than in the previous month. The seasonally adjusted indicator of consumer confidence, decreased month-on-month by 2,7 points to -33,7. The deterioration was followed by a slow gradual five-months improvement after a deep slump in April and a slight deterioration last month. Compared to the previous month, respondents were significantly more pessimistic in the expectations of the general economic situation and slightly in the expectations of the financial situation of households. More pessimistic, but only very slightly, were they also in the expectations of the unemployment development and the saving perspectives of households. Compared with the situation last year, the respondents were more pessimistic by 26 points and the current result is below the long-term average by 14,7 points.