Business sentiment has improved in Germany

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 02. 22. 10:01

In February, the German business sentiment index of the ifo economic research institute strengthened somewhat less than expected, the prospects improved, but the perception of the current situation among economic actors deteriorated somewhat.

The German business sentiment index of the ifo Institute for Economic Research of the University of Munich (ifo Institut – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München e.V.) rose to the highest level since June last year, instead of the expected 91.2 points to 91.1 points in February from 90.1 points in January. . The indicator strengthened in February for the fifth consecutive month.

Among the components of the index, the assessment of the outlook proved to be better than analysts’ expectations, reaching 88.5 points after 86.4 points in January. Analysts expected 88.4 points. The indicator quantifying the assessment of the current situation weakened from 94.1 points in January to 93.9 points in February, which was an improvement on the average of analysts’ expectations, 95 points.

Thanks to a significant improvement in company expectations, the index rose to the highest level since May 2022 in the manufacturing industry. However, the companies assessed their current situation as somewhat worse, registering fewer new orders.