The IFO Survey, also called the IFO Business Survey, is prepared by the IFO Institute for Economic Research, and is based on about 7,000 monthly survey responses from companies specialising in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing.
In the survey, companies are asked to express their opinions about the business climate in Germany – regarding the current situation and the expectations for the next six months.
The business climate can be rated: “good”, “satisfactory” or “poor”, while business expectations may be rated as: “more favourable”, “unchanged” or “more unfavourable”. To measure such subjective opinions, an index has been provided with the base value of 100 points, corresponding to the survey data from 2005. Historic data is available since January 1991.
An increase of the index is considered to be positive event, indicating a rise in confidence on the future of the German economy. A decrease of index is considered to be negative, giving signs that the business climate may turn out to be unfavourable in the future.
The impact on the currency markets is that it supports appreciation of the euro when the IFO index rises above expectations, and its depreciation when the IFO index falls below market predictions.
Periodicity of publication
The IFO Survey is released every month by the ifo Institute for Economic Research.