In January, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased slightly from its 17-year high in both the euro area (by 0.6 points to 114.7) and the EU (by 0.4 points to 114.7). The softening of euro-area sentiment resulted from markedly lower confidence in services and retail trade, while confidence in industry remained stable. By contrast, confidence increased among consumers and, in particular, construction managers. Amongst the largest euro-area economies, the ESI rose in Spain (+0.9), the Netherlands (+0.9) and Germany (+0.6) but decreased markedly in France (-2.4) and Italy (-1.7). The slightly softer decline of the EU ESI (-0.4) resulted from a steep improvement of sentiment in Poland (+5.0), while the ESI decreased in the largest non-euro area EU economy, the UK (-0.7). As opposed to the euro area, construction confidence in the EU decreased slightly due to plummeting confidence in the UK. In line with the euro area, confidence among consumers and in financial services improved in the EU, while it worsened in retail trade and services, while confidence in industry remained broadly unchanged. In January 2018, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area also edged slightly lower (-0.06 points to +1.54) from its highest level recorded since 1985 in December.