Although still in a state of emergency, Italy is beginning to emerge from a lockdown that lasted several months. It was the European country hit hardest and hardest by the pandemic, with both political and economic upheavals. Consequently, in Italy there has been a sharp decline in consumer confidence which is only now starting to recover.

During our monitoring, confidence in the Italian economy and in the finances of individual households appeared bleak, but we observed a hint of recovery in the last quarter of 2020, which continued in the first quarter of 2021 . As in many of the countries we monitor, when restrictions are relaxed and vaccination programs are launched, consumer confidence starts to rise.