German economic sentiment deteriorated unexpectedly in July, survey data from the Center for European Economic Research revealed Tuesday.

The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment fell 2.2 points to 36.3 point-mark, while it was forecast to improve to 40. Nonetheless, it remains above the historical average of 23.7.

"The financial market experts stick to their overall positive forecast," ZEW President Clemens Fuest said. "This illustrates their confidence in the robustness of the German economy despite the rather weak figures concerning industrial production and foreign trade released recently."

Meanwhile, the assessment of the current economic situation rose to 10.6 in July from 8.6 last month, and exceeded the expected reading of 9.

At 32.8 points, economic expectations in euro area gained 2.2 points. The indicator for the current economic situation also improved and now stands at the -74.7 points-mark, it said.