The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany surged to 87.8 in March 2024, climbing from February's revised figure of 85.7 and surpassing market expectations set at 86.0. Sentiment for Europe's largest economy reached its highest point since June 2023, fueled by anticipations of potential interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank and a gradual easing of inflationary pressures. Companies exhibited a less pessimistic outlook regarding the forthcoming months (87.5 vs 84.1 in February), while their assessment of the current business situation also showed a less gloomy stance (88.1 vs 86.9). Breaking down the data by industry, sentiment improved among manufacturers (-10.0 vs -17.1), service providers (+0.3 vs -4.0), traders (-22.9 vs -30.8), and constructors (-33.5 vs -35.4). source: Ifo Institute

Business Confidence in Germany increased to 87.80 points in March from 85.70 points in February of 2024. Business Confidence in Germany averaged 97.23 points from 1991 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 109.80 points in January of 1991 and a record low of 75.10 points in April of 2020. This page provides the latest reported value for - Germany Business Confidence - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Germany Ifo Business Climate Index - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2024.

Business Confidence in Germany increased to 87.80 points in March from 85.70 points in February of 2024. Business Confidence in Germany is expected to be 86.00 points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Germany Ifo Business Climate Index is projected to trend around 97.00 points in 2025 and 102.00 points in 2026, according to our econometric models.



Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2024-02-23 09:00 AM
Ifo Business Climate
Feb 85.5 85.2 85.5 85.7
2024-03-22 09:00 AM
Ifo Business Climate
Mar 87.8 85.7 86 86
2024-04-24 08:00 AM
Ifo Business Climate
Apr 87.8 88.9

Components Last Previous Unit Reference
Ifo Current Conditions 88.10 86.90 points Mar 2024
Ifo Expectations 87.50 84.40 points Mar 2024

Related Last Previous Unit Reference
Ifo Business Climate 87.80 85.70 points Mar 2024
Capacity Utilization 81.00 81.90 percent Mar 2024

Germany Ifo Business Climate Index
In Germany, the IFO Business Climate Index measures entrepreneurs’ sentiment about current business situation and their expectations for the next 6 months. The survey is made by phone and covers 9,000 firms in manufacturing, the service sector, trade and construction. The Business Climate Balance is constructed as the difference between the percentage share of executives that are optimistic and the share that are pessimistic. This balance can take values between -100 (all responding firms assess their situation as poor and expect business to deteriorate) and +100 (all responding firms assessed their situation as good and expect an improvement in their business). For the calculation of the IFO Business Climate Index, the Balance is normalized to the average of a base year (currently 2015).
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
87.80 85.70 109.80 75.10 1991 - 2024 points Monthly
2015=100, SA

News Stream
German Business Morale Hits 9-Month High
The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany surged to 87.8 in March 2024, climbing from February's revised figure of 85.7 and surpassing market expectations set at 86.0. Sentiment for Europe's largest economy reached its highest point since June 2023, fueled by anticipations of potential interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank and a gradual easing of inflationary pressures. Companies exhibited a less pessimistic outlook regarding the forthcoming months (87.5 vs 84.1 in February), while their assessment of the current business situation also showed a less gloomy stance (88.1 vs 86.9). Breaking down the data by industry, sentiment improved among manufacturers (-10.0 vs -17.1), service providers (+0.3 vs -4.0), traders (-22.9 vs -30.8), and constructors (-33.5 vs -35.4).
2024-03-22
German Business Morale Improves Slightly in February
The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany was slightly up at 85.5 in February 2024, remaining little changed from a three-and-a-half-year low of 85.2 touched in January and aligning with market expectations. Companies became less negative about their expectations for the coming months (84.1 vs 83.5 in January), while their current business situation remained at the weakest level since July 2020 (with the index unchanged at 86.9). Breaking down the data by industry, sentiment improved among service providers (-4.1 vs -4.8 in January) and constructors (-35.4 vs -35.8), but deteriorated among manufacturers (-17.4 vs -15.8) and traders (-30.8 vs -29.7).
2024-02-23
German Business Morale Weakens to 3-1/2-Year Low
The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell for a second consecutive month to 85.2 in January 2024, down from a revised 86.3 seen in the previous month and falling short of the market consensus of 86.7. Sentiment reached its weakest level since the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak back in May 2020 as companies became more pessimistic about both their expectations for the coming months (83.5 vs 84.3 in December) and their current business situation (87.0 vs 88.5). Breaking down the data by industry, sentiment deteriorated among service providers (-4.9 vs -1.7 in December), traders (-29.7 vs -26.7) and constructors (-35.9 vs -33.5), but improved among manufacturers (-16.0 vs -17.4).
2024-01-25