Business climate for self-employed and small enterprises in Germany showed a moderate improvement in February, following a gloomy start to the year. The business climate index, measured by the Munich-based Ifo Institute, rose by 21.1 points, after a decline of 24.9 in January.
Discontent with the current situation decreased and the self-employed are now looking less pessimistically at the coming months. “The self-employed are hoping for positive impulses from a new federal government” said Ifo expert Katrin Demmelhuber.
Despite the positive trend, the business climate for the self-employed remains significantly lower in the minus than that of the overall economy. After the downward movement of the previous months, the business climate in the hospitality industry now developed positively. Freelancers, consultants and creatives also reported better business developments. “There is still a lot of room for new orders and stronger demand among the self-employed” Demmelhuber said. To offset the weak order situation, they will less rely on price increases in the coming months.