Economic sentiment indicator

The economic sentiment indicator (ESI) is a composite indicator produced by the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) of the European Commission. Its objective is to track GDP growth at Member states, EU and euro area levels. The ESI is a weighted average of the balances of replies to selected questions addressed to firms in five sectors covered by the EU Business and Consumer Surveys and to consumers. The sectors covered are industry (weight 40 %), services (30 %), consumers (20 %), retail (5 %) and construction (5 %). Balances are constructed as the difference between the percentages of respondents giving positive and negative replies. EU and euro-area aggregates are calculated on the basis of the national results and seasonally adjusted. The ESI is scaled to a long-term mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 10. Thus, values above 100 indicate above-average economic sentiment and vice versa. Data are seasonally adjusted (SA). Further details on the construction of the ESI can be found in the user guide of the Joint Harmonised EU Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys.