ifo Business Climate Saxony Improves (March 2021)
The ifo Business Climate Index Saxony rose in March 2021. The barometer of business sentiment climbed from 91.0 to 93.4 points. Compared to the previous month, the business situation and expectations for the coming six months were better.
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In Saxony’s manufacturing, the mood improved once again. The survey participants’ assessments of their current situation saw a tremendous upswing in March, but their business expectations for the coming months declined somewhat.
In Saxony’s service sector, the business climate brightened considerably, driven by the rise in business expectations. However, assessments of the current situation fell slightly.
The mood in Saxony’s trade improved significantly in March, a change largely attributable to the better mood in retail. Retailers’ assessments of the business situation and business expectations surged, while sentiment in wholesale clouded over slightly.
In Saxony’s construction industry, the ifo Business Climate Index rose markedly in March. The construction companies participating in the survey reported a very clear improvement in their assessments of the current situation, and their business expectations climbed as well.
Joachim Ragnitz and Marcel Thum
Executive Directors, Dresden Branch of the ifo Institute
ifo Business Climate Eastern Germany
(Index, 2015 = 100, seasonally adjusted)
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Source: ifo Business Survey.
© ifo Institute
ifo Business Climate Saxony by Sector
(Balances, seasonally adjusted)
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Source: ifo Business Survey.
© ifo Institute
The ifo Business Climate for Saxony is based on approx. 500 monthly survey responses from businesses in manufacturing, the service sector, trade, and construction. Companies are asked to give their assessments of the current business situation and their expectations for the next six months. They can describe their situation as “good,” “satisfactory,” or “poor” and their business expectations for the next six months as “more favorable,” “unchanged,” or “less favorable.” The balance value of the current business situation is the difference in the percentage shares of the responses “good” and “poor”; the balance value of the expectations is the difference in the percentage shares of the responses “more favorable” and “less favorable.” The business climate is a transformed mean of the balances of the business situation and the expectations. To calculate the index values, the transformed balances are all normalized to the average for the year 2015.
