ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment - Expectations Improve Slightly

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany has increased by 6.7 points in October 2012. It is now standing at a level of minus 11.5 points. This is the second increase of the indicator in a row.

The indicator’s rise shows that risks for the German economy have somewhat diminished according to the financial market experts. This could well be explained by the decreasing uncertainty on the financial markets during the last weeks. Slightly more experts still expect the German economy to cool down instead of brightening up.

Nevertheless, the share of experts holding such a pessimistic view has once again declined compared to the previous month. Furthermore, almost half of the experts (45.5 percent) forecast that the economic situation six months ahead will be more or less the same as today.

The assessment of the current economic situation for Germany has weakened compared to the previous month. The respective indicator has dropped by 2.6 points in October and now stands at the 10.0 points-mark. Economic expectations for the Eurozone have hardly changed in October. The corresponding indicator has increased by 2.4 points to minus 1.4 points. The indicator for the current economic situation in the Eurozone has hardly changed, too. It now stands at the minus 79.4 points-mark (down 3.1 points).

For further information please contact

Dr. Christian D. Dick, E-mail dick@zew.de

Frieder Mokinski,Phone +49 (0)621/1235-143, E-mail mokinski@zew.de