The business climate of the self-employed has further darkened in December. The business climate index of the Ifo Institute fell to -23.4 points, after -21.3 in November.
This is the lowest value since October 2022. The mood regarding the current business situation deteriorated significantly. At the same time, expectations also clouded over further. “The persistent economic weakness hits the self-employed particularly hard” said Ifo expert Katrin Demmelhuber.
In the service sector, the indicator continued its downward trend after a brief respite in November. A declining order book and revenue continued to burden their businesses, accompanied by increasingly pessimistic revenue expectations. A few bright spots were seen in consulting services and self-employed in advertising and market research.
The business climate in retail remained in the minus. Besides this tense situation, it will become increasingly difficult for self-employed retailers to get loans from banks: Almost every second one rated the behavior of banks as restrictive, after around 34 percent in the third quarter of 2024. Considering all sectors, the self-employed have it a bit easier to get loans, the hurdle fell from 38.6 to 35.1 percent.