German ZEW Bounces Back in May to 20-Year High

11 May 2021

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The ZEW German economic sentiment indicator bounced back in May with an increase of 13.7 points to 84.4, the highest level in 20 years, economic research institute ZEW said on Tuesday.

Moreover, financial market participants again assessed the current situation much more positively, as the subindex rose 8.7 points to -40.1.

‘The stopping of the third Covid-19 wave has made financial market experts even more optimistic’, said ZEW President Achim Wambach in a press release. ‘The experts expect a significant economic upswing in the next six months. The economic outlook for the euro area and the United States is also considerably improved.’

For the euro area as a whole, survey respondents were also far more optimistic, with that index up 17.7 points to 84.0. The indicator for the current economic situation in the euro area was up 14.1 points to -51.4.

Eurozone inflation expectations captured by the survey were up 2.5 points to 77.6.