Euro area consumer confidence falls to -16.5 in September; retail sales barely grow
Euro-area consumer confidence fell to -16.5 in September from -15.5 in August, still well below February's -12.4. Retail sales volumes in August were only 0.8% higher than a year earlier.
A data update from FactIQ, written from EU institutions (Eurostat, ECB, EEA, and EU ETS) figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- Euro area consumer confidence, September
- -16.5down from -15.5 in August; -12.4 in February2022-10-012026-09-01Consumer confidence indicator, Euro area – 21 countries (from 2026)
- Euro area retail sales volume growth, August, year on year
- 0.8%up from 0.3% in July; 2.2% in January2022-09-012026-08-01Retail trade volume growth, Euro area – 20 countries (2023-2025)
- Euro area real gross domestic product growth, Q2 2026, quarter on quarter
- +0.64%+0.63% before revision; flat in Q12014-07-012026-04-01Real GDP, Euro area – 20 countries (2023-2025)
- Euro exchange rate, US dollars per euro, Oct 20
- 1.1215down from 1.1652 on Sep 92026-08-142026-10-20EUR/USD reference exchange rate
Households in the euro area are gloomier than in early 2026
Eurostat's consumer confidence indicator is a survey of how households see their finances and the economy. A negative reading means pessimists outnumber optimists. The euro-area reading fell to -16.5 in September from -15.5 in August. That is better than the April low of -20.5 but still well below February's -12.4. Germany stood at -14.5, France at -18.4 and Bulgaria at -25.9.Retail sales volumes are barely growing
Retail trade volume measures how much shops sell after adjusting for price changes. The euro-area index edged up to 104.1 in August from 104.0. Year-on-year growth was 0.8%, compared with 0.3% in July and 2.2% in January. Across the European Union (EU), retail volumes grew 1.2%. Germany's fell 0.4% year on year after falling 2.2% in July. France's grew 1.3%.The euro weakened as foreign buying of euro-area securities slowed
- The European Central Bank (ECB) reference rate for the euro was 1.1215 dollars on Oct 20. It was 1.1652 on Sep 9. It hit a low of 1.1177 on Oct 7 and briefly rose to 1.1253 on Oct 16.
- Foreign purchases of euro-area stocks and bonds slowed to €11.9bn (billion euros) in August. They were €81.3bn in July, revised up from €78.2bn, and €310.8bn in June.
- Euro-area residents bought €61.1bn of foreign securities, which left a net outflow of about €49bn.
Gross domestic product levels were revised up, but growth did not change
The level of euro-area and EU real gross domestic product (GDP), the inflation-adjusted value of output, was revised up by about 0.36% for every quarter. Euro-area GDP grew 0.64% quarter on quarter in Q2 2026 (0.63% before), after a flat Q1. EU GDP grew 0.68%. Cyprus's GDP level rose about 6.3% throughout: Q2 2026 is now €8,120m (million euros), against €7,638m before. Its year-on-year growth is still about 3.3%. Slovakia and Croatia were revised up about 1.2% and Poland about 0.4%. Belgium and Latvia were revised down slightly.Source: EU institutions (Eurostat, ECB, EEA, and EU ETS). See all EU data in FactIQ.
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