According to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) yesterday, the economic confidence index increased by 3.6 percent in April compared to the previous month, rising from 76.86 to 79.66. This increase in the index has been a result of increases in consumer and real sector confidence indexes, TÜİK said. The consumer confidence index increased by 1.5 percent in April compared to the previous month, reaching to 65.35, while the real sector confidence index increased by 1.5 percent, reaching 102.70 in the same time period. On the other hand, the construction confidence index dropped by 2.7 percent, decreasing to 81.16 in April. The economic confidence index is a composite index that encapsulates consumers' and producers' evaluations, expectations and tendencies regarding the general economic situation. The index is combined by means of a weighted aggregation of normalized sub-indices of consumer confidence, seasonally-adjusted real sector (manufacturing industry), services, retail trade and construction confidence indexes.