Italy registered a six-point rise in consumer confidence, compared to the first quarter of this year, the report by research company Nielsen said. Within Europe such an increase was only matched by Belgium, Denmark and Romania.

While Italians are getting more optimistic about their job prospects and money matters, they are however still far more pessimistic than the majority of Europeans.

The increase in Italy sees the country score 51 points on the Nielsen index, above only Croatia, with 50 points, Slovenia (49) and Portugal (48). Consumer confidence was higher in all other European countries ranked, including Ukraine which has for months been wracked by an insurgency.

In central Rome, one Italian told The Local that consumers remain wary and unsure about their economic prospects.

“The economy’s absolutely not getting better, nor is it getting worse. People are scared of spending, they think too much about it,” said Lucio Tarquini, working in a convenience store in the Italian capital.

“Twenty years ago Italy was more alive. But now there are too many taxes on everything, such as houses and purchases,” he added.

On a global scale the figures remain low for Europe, as overall confidence rose two points to 77 in the region. The most optimistic part of the world was the Asia-Pacific region, boasting 106 points, followed by North America with 103 points.

The Middle East and Africa regions were not far behind, with a combined average of 93 points, just above Latin America (90).