Economic Sentiment Continues to Improve

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany increased substantially by 6.7 points in April 2017. The indicator now stands at 19.5 points, thereby reaching its highest level since August 2015. Though the long-term average as calculated from the beginning of the survey (December 1991) is yet to be beaten, these results are comparable to the expectations prior to the Brexit vote in June 2016. "The German economic situation has proved fairly robust in the first quarter. This is highlighted by the solid figures for growth in industrial production, the construction sector and retail sales from February. In addition, the consistently high labour demand has boosted private consumption. The financial market experts expect this positive development to continue," comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach .

The assessment of the current economic situation in Germany has also improved in April, with the corresponding indicator climbing by 2.8 points to 80.1 points. The indicator now stands at its highest level since July 2011.

The financial market experts' expectations regarding economic development in the Eurozone improved slightly in April by 0.7 points, bringing the expectation indicator up to a current level of 26.3 points. Meanwhile, the indicator for the current economic situation in the Eurozone has once again improved fairly significantly in April. At 11.5 points, it now stands 4.1 points higher than in March. This is the highest level since May 2008.

For further information please contact

Dr. Michael Schröder, Phone +49 (0)621/1235-368, E-mail schroeder@zew.de

Lea Steinrücke, Phone +49 (0)621/1235-311, E-mail steinruecke@zew.de

More information and studies on the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment and the release dates 2017 (as PDF file, 28 KB) and the historical time series (as Excel file, 81 KB)