
The economic sentiment indicator decreased during August, affected by the decline in business and consumer confidence. The Bank of Albania reports in its periodic survey that industry had the strongest decline in confidence by 4 percentage points, affected by the labor shortage, while expectations for future prices were revised upwards.
Confidence in the construction sector fell by 2 percentage points, impacted by the decline in construction activity and the decline in future orders.
Despite the peak of the tourist season, service businesses also appeared pessimistic, with the expectations indicator shrinking by 2.1 percentage points. The decline is attributed to businesses' low expectations for the current performance of their activity and the decline in demand. Employment expectations in this sector have also been revised downwards.
Trade, on the other hand, remains the most optimistic about the future, as the economic confidence indicator increased by 5.4 percent. Meanwhile, consumer confidence remained almost unchanged in August compared to the previous period.