Ifo Economic Forecast 2013/2014: German Economy Picks Up Steam

In the context of its pre-Christmas press conference on 17 December 2013, the Ifo Institute presented its economic forecast for the years 2013 and 2014. Aggregate economic output in Germany will accelerate in the years ahead. The latter has followed a clearly upwards tendency in recent months. The world economic environment has also improved and domestic economic conditions are favourable. Uncertainty on the part of companies has diminished, but remains sufficiently high on the part of investors contemplating investing abroad to keep them interested in making a relatively secure investment in Germany. The outlook for private households’ income is favourable. Against this background, economic expansion is expected to be driven by the domestic economy. Real gross domestic product for 2014 should increase on annual average by 1.9% with a (2/3 probability) uncertainty interval of 0.8% to 3.0%.