English

The Euro zone leaves its crisis behind

The composite index for the euro zone rises by 3.9 to 11.9 points in January. This increase is the strongest of a composite index in January among all surveyed countries and regions. It is also noteworthy that the assessment of the current situation for the euro zone improves markedly and has now entered neutral territory. Consequently, at the start of 2014 Euroland finally leaves its crisis behind. Looking at other countries and regions, the composite index for Germany – which celebrates its fifth anniversary this month – rises slightly from 32.1 to 32.4 points. Germany thus remains the growth engine for the euro zone. The generally positive picture at the beginning of the year is only blurred by the figures for Asia ex Japan. Nevertheless, the composite index for the global aggregate increases for the sixth month in a row.