According to the report from the ZEW, in December, the indicator of German economic sentiment fell by 1.8 points, reaching 29.9 points. Despite the fall, the index turned out to be higher than economists' forecasts (25.1 points). Meanwhile, the index of the current economic situation fell by 19.9 points to -7.4 points. The last time the index dropped below zero was in June. The data also showed that the prospects for Germany's economic development in the next six months deteriorated significantly compared to November, which was due to the recent events around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report also showed that the indicator of economic sentiment in the eurozone rose to 26.8 points compared to 25.9 points in November, while the index of the current economic situation fell to -2.3 points from 11.6 points in November.
The ZEW survey also revealed a further drop in the inflation expectations index in the eurozone - to -33.3 points from -14.3 points in November - while 54.6% of experts expect inflation to decrease in the next six months.