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

Published By Europa [English], Thu, Oct 29, 2020 5:00 PM


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%.

Press release distributed by Media Pigeon on behalf of Europa, on Oct 29, 2020. For more information subscribe and follow


Eric Mamer

Chief Spokesperson
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Dana Spinant

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Elisaveta Dimitrova

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Johannes Bahrke

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Vivian Loonela

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