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Ifo’s Business Climate Index edged up to 87.5 in May, beating the 87.4 forecast and April’s 86.9, reflecting improving overall sentiment. The Expectations component climbed to 88.9—above the 88.0 consensus and April’s 87.4—signalling stronger optimism for the months ahead. However, the Current Assessment gauge dipped to 86.1, below the 86.8 forecast and down from 86.4, indicating firms view the present environment as slightly weaker.

HCOB Germany’s May Composite PMI registered 48.6, well below the 50.4 forecast and down from April’s 50.1, indicating renewed overall contraction. The Manufacturing PMI held at 48.8, in line with expectations and up slightly from 48.4, yet still below the 50-point expansion threshold. Services PMI softened to 47.2, missing the 49.6 consensus and down from 49.0, underscoring continued weakness in the services sector.

HCOB France’s Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.5 in May, above the 48.9 forecast and April’s 48.7, suggesting a pickup toward expansion even as it remains just below the 50 threshold. The Composite PMI held at 48.0—matching expectations and up from 47.8—indicating overall activity still in contraction but showing slight improvement. Meanwhile, the Services PMI dipped to 47.4, below the 47.7 consensus yet marginally above April’s 47.3, pointing to persistent, though modestly easing, contraction in service-sector activity.

Insee’s monthly business survey for May revealed the composite business climate index at 97, below forecasts of 99 and down from April’s 100, indicating a modest weakening in corporate sentiment across key sectors.

The German Finance Agency’s latest 10-year Bund auction saw the winning yield climb to 2.660%, up from 2.470% at the previous auction, reflecting softer demand amid rising global bond yields.

The European Commission’s Consumer Confidence Index for May rose to –15.2, above the –16.0 consensus and up from April’s –16.6, indicating a modest lift in household sentiment across the euro area.

Eurostat reports the seasonally adjusted current account surplus at €50.9 billion in March, well above the €35.9 billion consensus and up from €34.3 billion in February. The non-seasonally adjusted surplus stood at €60.1 billion, reversing a €33.1 billion surplus last month and underscoring the euro area’s robust external position amid strong export performance and contained import growth.

PPI declined 0.6% month-on-month in April, exceeding the 0.3% forecast and following a 0.7% drop in March. On a year-on-year basis, producer prices fell 0.9%, worse than the 0.6% expected and deepening from a 0.2% decline a year earlier, underscoring intensifying deflationary pressures in the German wholesale sector.

EU consumer prices rose 0.6% month-on-month in April, in line with expectations, while the annual rate remained unchanged at 2.2%. Core CPI—which strips out energy and unprocessed food—also gained 1.0% MoM as forecast and accelerated to 2.7% YoY, up from 2.4%. Ex-tobacco inflation held at 0.6% MoM and 2.1% YoY, matching prior readings. The harmonized index excluding energy and food climbed 0.9% MoM (versus 0.8% previously) and 2.7% YoY (from 2.5%), underscoring broad-based price pressures. The non‐seasonally adjusted CPI stood at 128.77, marginally above the 128.76 expected and up from 128.04 in March.

On May 19, 2025, Eurostat reported that the euro area recorded a trade surplus of €36.8 billion in March, well above the €17.5 billion forecast and up from €24.8 billion in February, underscoring strong export performance and moderating import growth.

On May 19, 2025, Italy’s national statistics institute (ISTAT) reported that the country’s goods trade surplus narrowed sharply to €3.657 billion in March, well below the €5.150 billion forecast and down from €4.444 billion in February. Trade with EU partners showed a deficit of €2.45 billion, significantly larger than the €0.38 billion shortfall expected.

On May 17, 2025, Italy’s National Institute of Statistics (Istat) reported that consumer prices edged up 0.1% month-on-month in April, below the 0.2% forecast and down from March’s 0.3% gain. On an annual basis, CPI climbed 1.9% in April, matching expectations and unchanged from March, signalling persistent but stable inflationary pressures in the economy.