Macroeconomic policy / 'Economic Outlook'
The Economic Outlook is our twice-yearly review of recent economic developments and projection of future economic developments. It is based on input from our member federations across Europe.
The Autumn 2024 edition shows signs that growth in the EU economy may bounce back a little this year, with rising real wages and the prospect of lower interest rates both likely to increase demand.
EU industrial output remains barely above pre-Covid levels, with capacity utilisation at its lowest level since 2013 (if the Covid period is excluded). Moreover, 74% of BusinessEurope member federations believe that the business climate for industrial producers has either worsened or shown no improvement over the last 6 months.
The report shows that EU businesses now expect the EU economy to grow by 1.2% in 2024, increasing to 1.8% in 2025. This is a 0.4 pp downward revision for 2024 in comparison to our Autumn 2023 Economic Outlook.