Italy’s services sector grew for the fifth consecutive month in April, accelerating compared to March thanks to an increase in new business, according to the findings from a survey released on Tuesday.
The HCOB Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 52.9 from 52.0 the previous month, pushing further above the 50.0 mark that indicates expansion.
The result outperformed expectations, with a Reuters news agency poll of six analysts forecasting a reading of 51.4.
Cyrus de la Rubia, Chief Economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, noted that Italy’s services sector is now demonstrating “relatively robust growth.”
Supporting this view, the survey’s new business sub-index rose to 52.7 in April from 51.8 in March, indicating a continued uptick in demand.
In addition, HCOB’s separate survey for the manufacturing sector, released on Friday, revealed that the sector shrank for the 13th consecutive month in April, though the pace of contraction eased notably.
Meanwhile, the composite PMI, which combines data from both manufacturing and services, climbed to 52.1 in April from 50.5 in March.
This marks the strongest growth in nearly a year, signalling a potential rebound for Italy’s sluggish economy.
“The Italian private sector has grown for three months in a row, led by the service sector, while manufacturing output has practically stopped shrinking after a year,” stated HCOB's de la Rubia.
Moreover, Italy’s gross domestic product grew by 0.3% in the first quarter compared to the previous three months, according to a flash estimate released last week by national statistics agency ISTAT, slightly exceeding expectations.
These moderately encouraging indicators follow a recent move by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to cut its full-year 2025 growth forecast in half, lowering it to 0.6% amid rising uncertainty tied to US trade tariff policies.