Economic Expectations Improve but Remain in Negative Territory
ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment
The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany recorded an increase of 11.0 points in August 2018 and now stands at minus 13.7 points. Despite this marked increase, the indicator still remains significantly below its long-term average value of 23.0 points. The assessment of the current economic situation in Germany remains largely unchanged, with the corresponding indicator rising slightly by 0.2 points to a current reading of 72.6 points.
“The recent agreement in the trade dispute between the EU and the United States has led to a considerable rise in expectations for Germany and also, to a lesser degree, for the Eurozone. However, the economic outlook for Germany is now significantly less favourable than it was six months ago,” comments ZZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.
The financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the Eurozone also experienced a significant increase of 7.6 points. With a reading of minus 11.1 points, however, the indicator still remains in double-digit negative range. Meanwhile, the indicator for the current economic situation in the Eurozone has sunk by 6.2 points to a reading of 30.0 points. This can be attributed to the unexpectedly low GDP growth rate in the second quarter of 2018.
For more information please contact:
Frank Brückbauer, Phone +49 (0)621/1235-148, E-mail frank.brueckbauer@zew.de
Dr. Frederick Eidam, Phone +49 (0)621-1235-330, E-mail frederick.eidam@zew.de
Dr. Michael Schröder, Phone: +49 (0)621/1235-368, E-mail michael.schroeder@zew.de
More information and studies on the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment and the release dates 2018 (as PDF file, 28 KB) and the historical time series (as Excel file, 81 KB)