Business confidence index (BCI) is a standardised confidence indicator providing an indication of future developments in business, based upon opinion surveys on developments in production, orders and stocks of finished goods in the manufacturing sector.
The indicator can be used to monitor output growth and to anticipate turning points in economic activity. Numbers above 100 suggest an increased confidence in near future business performance, and numbers below 100 indicate pessimism towards future performance.
Other sectors (construction, retail trade and services) are not included due to poor data availability among non-EU OECD member countries and among the OECD Non-member Economies.
This indicator is measured as an amplitude adjusted index, long-term average = 100.