The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in the Euro Area edged down 0.5 points to 95.2 in August 2025, below market expectations of 96. The downturn was driven by lower confidence in services (3.6 vs 4.1), construction (-3.5 vs -3.1) and consumer (-15.5 vs -14.7). On the other hand, there was a marginal improvement in retail trade (-6.5 vs -6.6) and industry (-10.3 vs -10.5). For the largest EU economies, the ESI dropped considerably in Spain (-2.6), followed by more moderate deteriorations in Germany (-1.0) and Italy (-1.0). Conversely, the ESI increased significantly in The Netherlands (+3.5) and slightly also in Poland (+0.5). In France, the ESI remained virtually unchanged (+0.1).