European August Flash PMI Preview

Economics Research 16 August 2026 | 5:46AM BST

European August Flash PMI Preview

BOTTOM LINE: We expect the upcoming Euro area flash composite PMI to be Giovanni Pierdomenico | essentially unchanged at 51.8 (vs. 52.0 in August). Across components, we look for a Goldman Sachs International slight tickdown in both sectors reflecting a moderation in consumer sentiment in early August and a normalization of manufacturing activity (notably in Germany) after a strong July. We expect the composite to be little changed across major Euro area economies. In the UK, we expect the UK composite PMI to tick down by 0.6pt to 51.6 reflecting a softer consumer high-frequency data and a slight moderation in the manufacturing output index from healthy levels.

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August Flash PMIs: GS vs. Bloomberg Consensus

Date Time (UK) Country Event Period GS Consensus Last Units

Fri 21/08 08:15 FR PMI - Composite Aug P Index Fri 21/08 08:15 FR PMI - Manufacturing Aug P Index Fri 21/08 08:15 FR PMI - Services Aug P Index Fri 21/08 08:30 DE PMI - Composite Aug P Index Fri 21/08 08:30 DE PMI - Manufacturing Aug P Index Fri 21/08 08:30 DE PMI - Services Aug P Index Fri 21/08 09:00 EA PMI - Composite Aug P Index Fri 21/08 09:00 EA PMI - Manufacturing Aug P Index Fri 21/08 09:00 EA PMI - Services Aug P Index Fri 21/08 09:30 UK PMI - Composite Aug P Index Fri 21/08 09:30 UK PMI - Manufacturing Aug P Index Fri 21/08 09:30 UK PMI - Services Aug P Index

Consensus forecasts shown are as at the time of writing this preview.

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, Bloomberg

European August Flash PMI Preview

The flash July PMIs surprised expectations to the upside for a second month in a row. The composite PMI now stands at 52.0, broadly at the same level as in February.

Since the end of the collection window for the July PMIs, commodity prices have remained elevated and product prices in the Euro area have ticked up further in late July and early August (Exhibit 1). The GS Financial Conditions Index (FCI), however, remains well below the April highs.

Exhibit 1: Commodity Prices Remain Elevated

Source: Haver Analytics, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, Eurostat

The early survey evidence for August has been mixed so far.

On the positive side, the sentix survey, which collected responses between August 6th and August 8th, showed a further improvement in the expectations and current conditions components. The results of the ZEW survey for August will be released on