Press Release: July 2006: Further improvement of economic sentiment in both the EU and the euro area

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in both the EU and the euro area continued to rise in July 2006, reaching the highest levels since the beginning of 2001. The indicator rose by 0.8 points in the EU and by 0.7 points in the euro area, up to 109.5 and 107.8, respectively. In both areas, sentiment has improved by more than 10 points over the last twelve months.