The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the Euro Area increased sharply to -2.5 in March of 2019 from -16.6 in the prior month and better than market expectations of -18.7. It is the strongest reading since May. In March, 47.7 percent of the surveyed analysts expected no changes in the economic activity in the coming six months and 27.4 percent expected it to get worse while 24.9 percent expected an improvement. Meantime, the indicator for the current situation slipped by 3.6 points to -6.6 and inflation expectations went up by 4.6 points to -6.7. Zew Economic Sentiment Index in the Euro Area averaged 23.49 from 1999 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 89.90 in January of 2000 and a record low of -63.70 in July of 2008.
Zew Economic Sentiment Index in Euro Area is expected to be -18.00 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Zew Economic Sentiment Index in Euro Area to stand at -14.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Euro Area Zew Economic Sentiment Index is projected to trend around -6.00 in 2020, according to our econometric models.