According to the survey conducted between 22 November and 14 December 2022 among Italian industrial and services firms with 50 or more employees, opinions regarding the general economic situation and firms' own operating conditions in the fourth quarter of 2022 have become less negative than in the previous quarter. Expectations for total and foreign demand in the coming months have improved, although firms continue to report difficulties linked to the economic and political uncertainty and the high energy prices.
Capital accumulation is expected to continue in 2023: assessments of a worsening in investment conditions remain much higher than those of an improvement, but the negative balance has halved compared with the previous survey. Employment is expected to continue growing in the first quarter of 2023.
Expectations for consumer price inflation increased further, reaching 8.1 per cent over twelve months and standing at 6.7 and 5.7 per cent over the two-year and three- to five-year horizons respectively. The dynamics of firms' selling prices will likely remain strong over the next twelve months, though slackening in construction and above all in industry excluding construction. They will still be mainly driven by the increase in the prices of production inputs and by the higher inflation expectations.
