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The European Commission’s September 2026 business and consumer survey puts the Economic Sentiment Indicator at 97.9 in both the European Union and the euro area. The latest-results page, updated on 29 September, reports declines of 0.4 points in the EU and 0.5 points in the euro area compared with August.
Employment expectations also weakened. The corresponding indicator fell 0.6 points to 98.3 in the EU and 1.3 points to 97.5 in the euro area. The Commission says both measures moved away from their long-term average of 100 after improving from May. The same numerical sentiment level in the two regions does not mean their member coverage or underlying responses are identical.
The separate September flash consumer-confidence reading fell to minus 15.8 in the EU and minus 16.5 in the euro area. These are balances on a different indicator scale, not percentages of households expecting a recession. Nor should consumer confidence be subtracted from the Economic Sentiment Indicator to calculate a new composite statistic.
For commercial intelligence, surveys provide evidence about respondents’ assessments and intentions. They can help frame questions about customer demand, hiring and order pipelines, but they do not directly measure realised revenue, completed construction or equipment purchases. An EPC contractor assessing opportunities would still need actual procurement notices, project milestones and customer financing information before treating sentiment as an order forecast.
The Commission schedules its next flash consumer-confidence update for 22 October. That is a release-calendar entry, not an expected economic outcome. Analysts comparing releases should retain the reference month, geographical coverage and indicator definition, and distinguish an index-point movement from a percentage change in production or sales.