ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment - Damped Optimism

Economic expectations for Germany have slightly declined in April 2014. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment has decreased by 3.4 points and now stands at a still remarkable level of 43.2 points (historical average: 24.6 points). The cautious expectations in this month’s survey are likely to be caused by the Ukraine conflict, which is still creating uncertainty. Furthermore, the slight decline in economic expectations has taken place against the backdrop of a very positive evaluation of the current economic situation in Germany.

The indicator reflecting the experts' assessment of the current economic situation for Germany has gained remarkable 8.2 points in April, reaching a level of 59.5 points. This is the indicator’s highest level since July 2011. This very positive assessment of the economic situation may also explain to some extend why a part of the surveyed experts have slightly lowered their expectations for the next six months - in their view the German economy is already growing at a considerable pace.

Economic expectations for the Eurozone have slightly decreased in the current survey. The respective indicator has declined by 0.3 points and now stands at a level of 61.2 points. The indicator for the current economic situation in the Eurozone has improved by 6.2 points to a level of minus 30.5 points.

For further information please contact

Frieder Mokinski, Phone +49 621/1235-143, E-mail mokinski@zew.de

Jesper Riedler, Phone +49 621/1235-379, E-mail riedler@zew.de