The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany decreased for a second month to 84.7 in December 2024, the lowest level since May 2020, compared to a downwardly revised 85.6 in November and forecasts of 85.6. The sub-index for business expectations declined sharply to 84.4 from 87 but the current conditions gauge improved to 85.1 from 84.3. "The weakness of the German economy has become chronic", the Ifo reported. Business sentiment has fallen considerably in the manufacturing and the services sector and has declined for retailers. In contrast, sentiment improved for the construction industry. source: Ifo Institute

Business Confidence in Germany decreased to 84.70 points in December from 85.60 points in November of 2024. Business Confidence in Germany averaged 97.01 points from 1991 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 109.80 points in January of 1991 and a record low of 75.00 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 January of 2025.

Business Confidence in Germany decreased to 84.70 points in December from 85.60 points in November of 2024. Business Confidence in Germany is expected to be 85.30 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 88.00 points in 2025 and 102.00 points in 2026, according to our econometric models.




Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2024-11-25 09:00 AM
Ifo Business Climate
Nov 85.7 86.5 86 86.3
2024-12-17 09:00 AM
Ifo Business Climate
Dec 84.7 85.6 85.6 85.3
2025-01-27 09:00 AM
Ifo Business Climate
Jan 84.7

Components Last Previous Unit Reference
Ifo Current Conditions 85.10 84.30 points Dec 2024
Ifo Expectations 84.40 87.00 points Dec 2024

Related Last Previous Unit Reference
Ifo Business Climate 84.70 85.60 points Dec 2024
Capacity Utilization 76.30 77.40 percent Dec 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
84.70 85.60 109.80 75.00 1991 - 2024 points Monthly
2015=100, SA


News Stream
German Business Morale Lowest Since 2020
The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany decreased for a second month to 84.7 in December 2024, the lowest level since May 2020, compared to a downwardly revised 85.6 in November and forecasts of 85.6. The sub-index for business expectations declined sharply to 84.4 from 87 but the current conditions gauge improved to 85.1 from 84.3. "The weakness of the German economy has become chronic", the Ifo reported. Business sentiment has fallen considerably in the manufacturing and the services sector and has declined for retailers. In contrast, sentiment improved for the construction industry.
2024-12-17
German Business Morale Worsens More Than Expected
The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany decreased to 85.7 in November 2024 from 86.5 in October and below forecasts of 86 as the fall of government and the threat of trade tariffs from upcoming Trump administration has weighted on the sentiment. The sub-index for current conditions worsened to 84.3 from 85.7 and business expectations edged down to 87.2 from 87.3. "The German economy is lacking strength. Companies were somewhat skeptical again about the coming months", Ifo president Clemens Fuest said. The business climate in the manufacturing sector has deteriorated, with companies expressing increased skepticism about the months ahead, although they were slightly more satisfied with the current situation. In the services sector, the business climate index has dropped sharply, with companies viewing the current situation much more negatively and adopting a more pessimistic outlook. In contrast, the retail sector saw an improvement, but optimism remains far from widespread.
2024-11-25
German Business Morale Beats Forecasts
The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany increased for the first time in five months to 86.5 in October 2024 from 85.4 in September which was the lowest reading since January, and beating forecasts of 85.6. The sub-index for current conditions improved to 85.7 from 84.4, and business expectations went up to 87.3 from 86.4. “Expectations were brighter but marked by skepticism. The German economy stopped the decline for the time being”, Ifo President Clemens Fuest said. In manufacturing, the downward trend did not continue in this month, due to noticeably less pessimistic expectations. However, they assessed the current business situation as considerably worse. The lack of orders remains a core problem. Capacity utilization fell by 1.2 percentage points and, at 76.5%, is significantly below the long-term mean of 83.4%. In the service sector, the Business Climate Index returned to positive territory, with sentiment improving especially in logistics, tourism, and IT.
2024-10-25