The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said the Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany decreased sharply in June 2019, and now stands at -21.1 points. This corresponds to a drop of 19.0 points compared to the previous month. Economists had expected decrease to -5.9. The indicator’s long-term average is 22.0 points. Over the same period, the assessment of the economic situation in Germany slightly worsened by 0.4 points, with the corresponding indicator falling to a current reading of 7.8 points. The economic outlook for Germany is therefore similarly negative as it was in the last quarter of 2018.

“The sharp drop in the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment coincides with an increased uncertainty regarding the future development of the global economy and substantially worsened figures for the German economy at the beginning of the second quarter,” comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.

The financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the eurozone also experienced a significant drop, with the corresponding indicator currently standing at -20.2 points, 18.6 points below the reading from the previous month. By contrast, the indicator for the current economic situation in the eurozone climbed 3.3 points to a level of minus 3.7 points in June.