ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment

A German firm, the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), queries financial experts in order to estimate the country's economic situation. The results are calculation of the difference between positive and negative reviews.

There are two types of the indicator:

• ZEW Economic Expectations Index — this indicator is made up of assessments of expected events— the direction of inflation, interest rates and exchange rates over the next six months.
• Zew Current Situation — in contrast to the previous indicator, it assesses the current economic situation. Experts are invited to select one of the variants: "better", "worse" or "unchanged." The final figure is the difference between positive and negative rates.

High figures indicate a positive economic environment and good business climate.

• Release Frequency: monthly.
• Release Schedule: 09:00 GMT, the first half of the month.
• Source: Center for European Economic Research.