The headline index from the report, the seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index registered 50.3 in November, up from October's reading of 49.2 and indicated a marginal increase in business activity in Italy's service sector. This followed a first reduction in almost two-and-a-half years during the previous month.

Commenting on the PMI data, Amritpal Virdee, Economist at IHS Markit said: “Activity in Italy's service sector expanded marginally in November, driven by persistent new order growth and lower than expected declines in new business from abroad. With a fall in manufacturing output recorded, overall Italian private sector growth has weakened considerably from the start of the year and November's data is consistent with a negative out-turn for GDP in Q4 2018."