Renewed Rise in Expectations

In August 2020, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany increased again significantly compared to the previous month, after having declined slightly in July. Expectations are now at 71.5 points, 12.2 points higher than in the previous month. The assessment of the economic situation in Germany has slightly worsened, with the corresponding indicator decreasing 0.4 points to minus 81.3 points in the current August survey.

“Hopes for a speedy economic recovery have continued to grow, but the assessment of the situation is improving only slowly,” comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach on the current expectations. “According to the assessments of the individual sectors, experts expect to see a general recovery, especially in the domestic sectors. However, the still very poor earnings expectations for the banking sector and insurers regarding the coming six months give cause for concern,” Wambach points out.

Financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the eurozone has improved, with the corresponding indicator climbing 4.4 points to a current level of 64.0 points compared to the previous month. The indicator for the current economic situation in the eurozone fell 1.1 points to a level of minus 89.8 points.

More information and studies on the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment and the release dates 2020 (as PDF file, 28 KB) and the historical time series (as Excel file, 81 KB)

More about Achim Wambach on Twitter: @AchimWambach