Economic sentiment fell sharply in the eurozone and the EU in general in August, with the Netherlands recording the second biggest drop of the 17 eurozone countries, according to European Commission figures.

The official Economic Sentiment Indicator declined by five points to 97.3 in the EU and by 4.7 points to 98.3 in the eurozone area.
Germany (-5.7 points) and the UK (-5.6) reported the strongest decreases in sentiment, followed by Poland (-3.6) and the Netherlands (-3.0), the Commission said.