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ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment

A Leading Indicator for the German Economy

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment is ascertained monthly. Up to 350 financial experts take part in the survey. The indicator reflects the difference between the share of analysts that are optimistic and the share of analysts that are pessimistic for the expected economic development in Germany in six months. The survey also asks for the expectations for the Euro-zone, Japan, Great Britain and the U.S.A..

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Detailed results of the latest suvey

Release dates 2010 (as PDF file, 17 KB)

Studies on the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment and on other indicators for the German economy

Download the historical time series in EXCEL-Format. It is also available via Thomson Financial Datastream (Mnemonic: BDZEWECSR) and Bloomberg (ECST GE <GO>).

Calculation of the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment

  • The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment is calculated from the results of the ZEW Financial Market Survey. It is constructed as the difference between the percentage share of analysts that are optimistic and the share of analysts that are pessimistic for the German economy in six months. Example: If 30 per cent of participants expect the German economic situation to improve within the next six months, 30 per cent expect no change and 40 per cent expect the economic situation to deteriorate, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment would take a value of -10. Thus, a positive number means that the share of optimists outweighs the share of pessimists and vice versa.

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