May 2013

ZEW-Erste Group Bank Economic Sentiment Indicator for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) - Optimistic Trend Recurs

In May 2013 economic expectations for Central and Eastern Europe including Turkey (CEE) display a revision of last month’s decline, thereby crawling back to a positive trend. The ZEW-Erste Group Bank Economic Sentiment Indicator for Central and Eastern Europe increases by 15.4 points (April 2013: decline by 20.4 points after four consecutive increases). The balance of experts’ expectations is currently set at 44.9 points. In spite of prevailing uncertainty in the eurozone, experts’ optimism increases in May for all countries in the CEE region and for the eurozone (indicator increase by 31.1 points). read more

ZEW-CS Financial Market Test Switzerland - Economic Expectations Cede Last Month's Gains

In May 2013 the ZEW-CS Indicator of economic expectations for Switzerland falls by 17.8 points to a level of 2.2 points. Thereby, last month’s significant gains are lost and the indicator falls back to the level of March 2013. The ZEW-CS Indicator is calculated monthly by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in cooperation with Credit Suisse (CS). The indicator reflects the expectations of the surveyed financial market experts regarding the economic development in Switzerland on a six-month time horizon. read more

ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment - ZEW Indicator Remains Unchanged

After a sharp decline last month, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany has moved sideways in May 2013. The indicator has gained 0.1 points compared to the previous month and is now hovering at the 36.4 points-mark. read more

April 2013

Experts Expect Increasingly Dynamic GDP Growth Throughout the Year

The growth of the German gross domestic product (GDP) will accelerate in 2013. For the first and second quarter of 2013, experts expect a median GDP growth of 0.2 and 0.3 per cent. In the third quarter an increase by 0.4 per cent is expected. This is the result of the analysis of a special question for the quarterly ZEW survey among financial market experts conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim. The participants of the survey are asked to forecast the strength of GDP growth in the previous, the current and the subsequent quarter. In April 2013, 158 financial market experts participated in this survey. read more

ZEW on Board MS Wissenschaft 2013

The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) is again on board of the exhibition ship MS Wissenschaft (MS Science). On 30 April, the floating Science Centre will set sail from Berlin and begin its journey through Germany and Austria. This year, the interactive exhibition with the motto "Alle Generationen in einem Boot"(All generations in the same boat) focuses on demographic change. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) sent the MS Wissenschaft on its mission. read more

Science Spin-offs Create More Jobs than Other Start-ups

The annual job growth in science spin-offs is on average about 3.4 percentage points higher than that of other start-ups in knowledge-intensive economic sectors (research-intensive industry and knowledge-intensive service providers). This is the result of an analysis conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim. The study analyses more than 20,000 business start-ups in knowledge-intensive economic sectors from 1996 to 2000. Science spin-offs are start-ups with at least one person involved who had worked at a university or a non-university research institution, or who had been employed at a scientific institute during the firm foundation. read more

Optimism Increases Among the Companies of the Information Economy

The economic sentiment within the economic sector of the information economy has improved further during the first quarter of 2013. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, the ZEW Sentiment Indicator Information Economy increases by 2.8 points and now reaches a level of 61.3 points. It has been crucial for this increase that the companies assess the future business development clearly more optimistically than during the final quarter of 2012. The sub-indicator of business expectations increases by 13.5 points to 69.1 points, which more than outweighs the decrease in the previous quarter. This is the result of a survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in March 2013 within the information economy (further information regarding the survey at the bottom of the press release). read more

ZEW-Erste Group Bank Economic Sentiment Indicator for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) - Optimism Diminishes

In April 2013 economic expectations for Central and Eastern Europe including Turkey (CEE) have decreased for the first time after four consecutive increases. The ZEW-Erste Group Bank Economic Sentiment Indicator for Central and Eastern Europe has fallen by 20.4 points. At a level of 29.5 points, it still clearly remains in the positive range. The slowdown of economic sentiment might well reflect rising uncertainty regarding the future development of the eurozone’s debt crisis, among others in Cyprus. A downturn in economic expectations is being observed in almost all countries of the CEE region. Only Hungary’s economic expectations have increased by 11.6 points to a level of 22.8 points. The respective indicator of economic sentiment for the eurozone has decreased by 25.1 points. read more

Joint Economic Report Spring 2013: German Economy Recovers – Long-Term Oriented Economic Policy Required

Positive signals for the German economy in the spring of 2013: the financial market situation has eased and the headwind from the global economy is abating. The Joint Economic Report of spring 2013, conducted by ZEW in cooperation with other leading economic research institutes, forecasts an increase of the German gross domestic product of 0.8 per cent in the current year (68 per cent projection interval: 0.1 to 1.5 per cent) and 1.9 per cent in 2014. read more

ZEW-CS Financial Market Test Switzerland - Economic Expectations Approach Three-Year-High

In April 2013 the ZEW-CS Indicator of economic expectations for Switzerland, continues its race to catch up which had started in October 2012 and was temporarily interrupted last month. The indicator increases by 17.7 points to a level of 20.0 points. This is the highest level since May 2010. At that time the indicator amounted to 40.5 points. This month’s positive change reflects financial analysts’ growing optimism towards Switzerland’s economic outlook. read more

ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment - Optimism Subdued

In April 2013 the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany has fallen by 12.2 points and is now at a level of 36.3 points. Despite its decline, the indicator currently hovers at its third highest mark within the last 24 months. The current level has only been exceeded in the two preceding months. read more