Macroeconomic policy / 'Economic Outlook'
The Economic Outlook is our twice-yearly review of recent economic developments and projection of future economic developments. It is based on input from our member federations across Europe.
The Autumn 2023 edition shows a significant drop in the European business sentiment, with 75% of our member federations saying that they are more pessimistic about the current business climate in industry than they were six months ago.
The European economy continued to grow even more sluggishly in the first half of 2023 as businesses were faced with the impact of higher interest rates, a slowing global economy, and increasing long-term competitiveness challenges. In particular, higher interest rates and increased credit standards hampered much-needed investment and consumer spending.
The EU economy is forecasted to slow down to 0.7% in the EU in 2023, in line with the forecast of our Spring Economic Outlook, and recover moderately in 2024 with EU growth of 1.4%, as household spending recovers and international trade activity potentially picks up.
