In August 2019, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) increased slightly in the euro area (by 0.4 points to 103.1), while it continued to decline in the EU (by 0.6 points to 101.4). The slight improvement of euro-area sentiment resulted from markedly higher confidence in industry and retail trade, while confidence deteriorated significantly in services and construction and, to a lesser extent, among consumers. Amongst the largest euro-area economies, the ESI rose strongly in Spain (+1.9) and edged up in Germany (+0.4), while it remained broadly stable in France (+0.1) and the Netherlands (+0.2) and decreased only in Italy (−0.9). The slight decline of the ESI in the EU (−0.6) was mainly due to the strong deterioration of sentiment in the largest non-euro area EU economy, the UK (−1.8); sentiment remained unchanged in Poland (0.0). In August 2019, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area increased markedly (by 0.22 points to +0.11). Managers’ assessments of past production and of export order books improved sharply. In addition, their production expectations as well as their views on overall order books and the level of stocks of finished products improved markedly.