Rising Expectations, but Situation Assessment Bottoms Out

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany recorded an increase in the October 2024 survey. At 13.1 points, it is 9.5 points above last month’s value. This means that the losses recorded in September have been made up again. In contrast, the assessment of the economic situation in Germany continued to worsen. The corresponding indicator fell 2.4 points to a new value of minus 86.9 points, with almost nine out of ten respondents assessing the current economic situation as negative.

“Starting from a very poor assessment of the current situation, the economic sentiment for Germany has risen in the latest survey. Contributing factors include the expectation of stable inflation rates and the associated prospect of further interest rate cuts by the ECB. Positive signals are also coming from Germany’s export markets. Economic expectations for the eurozone, the USA, and China have also significantly improved. The increased optimism for China is likely linked to the Chinese government’s economic stimulus measures. These developments have probably also contributed to the rise in economic expectations for Germany,” comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach on the survey results.

The financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the eurozone experienced an increase in October. At 20.1 points, the indicator gained 10.8 points compared to September. The situation indicator for the eurozone, however, worsened slightly, falling 0.4 points to a new reading of minus 40.8 points.