Consumer confidence in the eurozone unexpectedly declined in December, according to preliminary data from the European Commission.

The commission's flash consumer confidence indicator for the euro area fell 0.9 point to negative 8.1 in December after rising to negative 7.2 in the prior month.

The consensus estimate of economists polled by Econoday was for consumer confidence in the bloc to improve 0.1 point to negative 7.1.

In the wider EU, consumer confidence dropped 0.3 point month over month to negative 7.0 in December.

Both the indicator for the euro area and that for the wider EU are well above their respective long-term averages of negative 10.6 and negative 9.9, the EC said.