KOF Economic Barometer: The outlook is becoming cloudier again

The KOF Economic Barometer drops by 3.4 points in December to a level of 99.5 (after revised 102.9 in the previous month). The indicator bundles included in the Economic Barometer all contribute to the negative development. In particular, the indicator bundles for manufacturing and for other services, as well as the indicator bundles for the hospitality industry, for foreign demand and for private consumption decrease considerably.

Within the producing industry (manufacturing and construction), the sub-indicators for different aspects of business activity show predominantly downward tendencies. Particularly, the sub-indicators for production activity, for order backlogs and for exports show negative developments. Solely the sub-indicator for stocks of finished products point to more favourable conditions, thereby contrasting the otherwise clouded outlook.

Within manufacturing, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the textile industry, as well as machinery and equipment manufacturing are all under pressure. While the outlook for the food and beverages producers remains nearly unaltered, the wood, glass, stone and earth segment indicates more positive developments.