Expectations Continue to Increase

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany increased again in the current March 2021 survey, climbing 5.4 points to a new reading of 76.6 points compared to February. This means that since December 2020, the indicator has recorded a rise of more than 20 points.The assessment of the economic situation in Germany is also more positive than in the previous month, and currently stands at minus 61.0 points, 6.2 points higher than in February. The assessment of the situation has thus slightly improved by 5.5 points since December 2020.

“Economic optimism continues to rise. Experts expect a broad-based recovery of the German economy. They anticipate that at least 70 per cent of the German population will be offered a vaccine against Covid-19 by autumn. However, a large majority also expects inflation to continue to grow, as well as higher long-term interest rates,” comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.

The financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the eurozone also increased again in March, bringing the indicator to a current level of 74.0 points, 4.4 points higher than in February and almost 20 points higher than in December 2020.

The indicator for the current economic situation in the eurozone climbed 4.8 points to a level of minus 69.8 points, which is only about six points higher than in December 2020.

Inflation expectations for the eurozone rose 8.8 points, bringing the indicator to a new value of 80.6 points. For Germany, the inflation indicator increased by 7.5 points and currently stands at 81.0 points. More than 80 per cent of the experts expect the inflation rate both in the euro zone and in Germany to rise in the next six months.

More information and studies on the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment and the release dates 2021 (as PDF file, 28 KB) and the historical time series (as Excel file, 81 KB)

More about Achim Wambach on Twitter: @AchimWambach