Ljubljana, 27 October (STA) - Business sentiment in Slovenia improved for the fourth consecutive month in October, with the value of the indicator rising by 0.6 percentage points from September to stand at minus one percentage point, the Statistics Office announced on Monday. Compared to October last year, the indicator was higher by 3.1 percentage points.
The monthly improvement was driven primarily by increased confidence in the services sector, which lifted the overall index by 0.9 percentage points, and in retail trade, which added 0.2 percentage points.
However, these gains were partially offset by a drop in confidence in manufacturing (down 0.3 percentage points), construction, and among consumers (both down 0.1 percentage points).
On a year-on-year basis, all five components contributed to the rise in the overall index. The most significant positive impacts came from manufacturing (up 1.1 percentage points), services (up 0.8 percentage points), and consumer confidence (up 0.6 percentage points).
In a separate report on business tendencies, the Statistics Office noted that confidence strengthened in retail and services in October, but declined in construction and manufacturing.
Confidence in the retail sector saw a monthly increase of five percentage points and was seven points higher than a year ago. In services, the indicator was up by three percentage points on both a monthly and an annual basis.
Conversely, the confidence indicator in construction fell by three percentage points compared to September, though it remained four points higher than last October and 17 points above the long-term average. In manufacturing, confidence dipped by one percentage point month-on-month but was three points higher than a year ago, although it remained six points below the long-term average.
