Renewed Rise in Expectations

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany has again risen sharply in December 2019, now being valued at 10.7 points. This corresponds to a 12.8-point increase compared to the previous month and a 33.5-point increase compared to the October reading. This is the indicator’s highest value since February 2018. The assessment of the economic situation in Germany has also improved in the current December survey, with the corresponding indicator climbing to a level of minus 19.9 points, 4.8 points higher than in November.

“At first glance, the renewed substantial increase of the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment may seem surprising. It rests on the hope that German exports and private consumption will develop better than previously thought. This hope results from a higher than expected German foreign trade surplus in October, alongside relatively robust economic growth in the EU in the third quarter and a stable German labour market. The rather unfavourable figures for industrial production and incoming orders for October, however, show that the economy is still quite fragile,” comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.

Financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the eurozone has also considerably improved once again, bringing the indicator to a current level of 11.2 points for December, 12.2 points higher than in the previous month. The indicator for the current economic situation in the eurozone also rose significantly again by 4.9 points, climbing to a current reading of minus 14.7 points.

More information and studies on the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment and the release dates 2020 (as PDF file, 28 KB) and the historical time series (as Excel file, 81 KB)