European Commission surveys are recurring, standardised questionnaires used to gauge sentiment among firms and households in EU Member States. Separate questionnaires are directed at enterprises in manufacturing, construction, retail and services, and at consumers. Conducted monthly, the surveys generate comparable information on how respondents assess economic conditions and their expectations. Selected answers are statistically aggregated into confidence indicators, which condense several responses into a single measure for a particular sector or respondent group. The indicators are used to monitor developments in business and consumer sentiment across countries and over time.
Source: European Central Bank (ECB) (source). This glossary entry is an independently worded adaptation of the cited information.