Results of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters in the fourth quarter of 2020

Europe
    • HICP inflation expectations for 2020 and 2021 revised down slightly, while longer-term inflation expectations broadly unchanged
    • Expected profile of real GDP revised up slightly, with slightly milder downturn in 2020 and rebound in 2021
    • Unemployment rate expectations revised down across all horizons

Respondents to the European Central Bank (ECB) Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) for the fourth quarter of 2020 reported point forecasts for annual HICP inflation averaging 0.3%, 0.9% and 1.3% for 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. These results represent downward revisions of 0.1 percentage points for both 2020 and 2021. Average longer-term inflation expectations (which, like all other longer-term expectations in this round of the SPF, refer to 2025) edged up to 1.7% from 1.6% in the previous round.

The expectations of SPF respondents for euro area real GDP growth averaged -7.8%, 5.3% and 2.6% for 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. These figures represent revisions from the previous round amounting to +0.5 percentage points for 2020, -0.4 percentage points for 2021 and +0.2 percentage points for 2022. Average longer-term expectations for real GDP growth were unchanged at 1.4%.

Average unemployment rate expectations stood at 8.3%, 9.1% and 8.4% for 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. These represent downward revisions of 0.8, 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points. Expectations for the unemployment rate in the longer term were revised down 0.1 percentage points to 7.6%.

Table: Results of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters for the fourth quarter of 2020
(annual percentage changes, unless otherwise indicated)
Survey horizon 2020 2021 2022 Longer term (1)
HICP inflation
Q4 2020 SPF 0.3 0.9 1.3 1.7
Previous SPF (Q3 2020) 0.4 1.0 1.3 1.6
HICP inflation excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco
Q4 2020 SPF 0.7 0.8 1.1 1.5
Previous SPF (Q3 2020) 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.5
Real GDP growth
Q4 2020 SPF -7.8 5.3 2.6 1.4
Previous SPF (Q3 2020) -8.3 5.7 2.4 1.4
Unemployment rate (2)
Q4 2020 SPF 8.3 9.1 8.4 7.6
Previous SPF (Q3 2020) 9.1 9.3 8.5 7.7

 

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