Facts
The ifo Institute's facts include the results of our surveys and forecasts. The ifo surveys include, for example, the monthly ifo Business Surveys, from which the ifo Business Climate Indicator is calculated, or the Randstad-ifo Personnel Manager Survey. In the area of forecasts, we distinguish between ifo's own economic forecasts and forecasts on which we collaborate with other research institutes, such as the Joint Economic Forecast.
Survey Series
Jimdo-ifo Business Climate Index for the Self-Employed
In order to increase the visibility of solo self-employed and micro enterprises, the ifo Institute has been publishing a new indicator since December 2021: the Jimdo-ifo Business Climate Index for the Self-Employed, which is based on the ifo Business Surveys. Similar to the overall index, all sectors are taken into account, with a focus on the service sector. To attract new participants, we are working on this business climate index in cooperation with Jimdo, a provider of online tools for solo self-employed and small businesses, and the Association of Founders and Self-Employed People of Germany (VGSD e.V.).
ifo Business Climate Index for Germany
The ifo Business Climate Index is a highly-regarded early indicator of economic developments in Germany published on a monthly basis. Detailed results of the ifo Business Survey are published in the ifo Konjunkturperspektiven (in German).
ifo Export Expectations
The ifo Export Expectations, based on the ifo Business Survey, are a new indicator introduced by the ifo Institute in November 2014 to monitor and assess current and future developments in the export sector. The expectations focus on the export sector, are available on a timely basis, are not revised and offer a very good overview of developments in the export sector.
ifo Employment Barometer
The ifo Employment Barometer is based on ca. 9,500 monthly responses from businesses in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling, retailing and the services sector. The companies are asked to report on their employment plans for the coming three months.
ifo Business Climate in Eastern Germany
The ifo Business Climate in Eastern Germany is based on ca. 1,200 monthly survey responses of firms in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing.
ifo Business Climate Index for Saxony
Regional Evaluation for Saxony with ifo Business Climate for Industry and Trade for Saxony, ifo Employment Barometer for Saxony and ifo Business Climate for Saxony by Sector.
ifo Education Survey
The ifo Education Survey was developed by the ifo Center for the Economics of Education as part of the project “The political economy of education policy: Insights from an opinion survey” funded by the Leibniz Association. The ifo Education Survey is based on an annual public opinion survey of over 5,500 individuals who constitute a representative sample of Germany’s adult population.
ifo HR Survey
In the ifo Institute's HR -survey, around 1,000 HR managers in German HR departments are asked about current topics concerning HR policy. A special focus lies on the analysis of flexibilization instruments. The panel includes companies from the manufacturing, wholesale, retail and service sectors.
ifo and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Economists Panel
Every two months the ifo Institute and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) Economists Panel surveys a representative group of economics professors at German universities on current economic policy issues. The panel aims to offer the public a differentiated perspective on how economists see the key challenges facing Germany in the present and the future. The survey results are regularly published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Economic Experts Survey (EES)
The Economic Experts Survey (EES) is a quarterly survey of economic experts worldwide. The EES captures their assessment of the current economic policy and political performance as well as of special questions in their countries. The survey is jointly conducted by the ifo Institute and the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy.
ifo World Economic Survey (WES)
From 1983 to 2019, the World Economic Survey (WES) asked more than 1,000 economic experts worldwide every quarter to provide a picture of the current economic situation and indications of future developments in more than 100 important industrial, emerging and developing countries.
Forecast Series
ifo Economic Forecast
The ifo Institute publishes an economic forecast four times per year. The forecast focuses on developments in the German economy for a period of up to two years. In view of the close links between the German economy and the world economy, and particularly the European economy, ifo also forecasts developments in the European Union and other important countries. The forecast is based on an in-depth analysis of the economic situation.
Joint Economic Forecast
The Joint Economic Forecast analyses and forecasts the economic situation in Germany. The forecasts are conducted twice a year: one forecast is published in spring followed by another in autumn. The Joint Economic Forecasts act as a point of reference fort he forecasts made by the German federal government. The Joint Economic Forecast is a joint research project conducted by several economic research institutes. Their cooperation is characterised by a dialogue between different competing theoretical and methodical approaches, forming the best possible basis for analysis and forecasts.
ifoCAST Forecast
Bi-monthly, ifoCAST presents an assessment of the development of Germany’s current GDP growth and highlights changes in the forecast against the background of new information.
ifo Economic Forecast Eastern Germany and Saxony
The monitoring of economic activity has been one of the main tasks of io Dresden since its founding in 1993. In recent years a system for economic forecasting has been developed using data from the ifo Business Survey in Eastern Germany and Saxony.
Eurozone Economic Outlook
The Eurozone Economic Outlook was a joint project between the German ifo Institute, the Italian Istat Institute and the KOF Swiss Economic Institute. It produced a joint forecast for real gross domestic product, consumption of private households, gross fixed capital formation (investment), industrial production and the inflation rate in the euro zone for the current and the two following quarters. The publication was discontinued in spring 2021.
