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Forecasting Properties of Indicators for Predicting GDP Growth in Germany

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  • Steffen Henzel
  • Sebastian Rast

Abstract

The quality of forecasting GDP growth rates for the current and the coming quarter is crucial for the accuracy of any economic forecast. These short-term forecasts rely on information from economic indicators that are published monthly. For Germany there are a variety of such indicators, but which ones have the best forecasting properties and give the most reliable signals on the current economic situation? This article compares the most common “soft” indicators for Germany in terms of their predictive power for the quarterly growth rate of GDP. In addition, the information advantage of these indicators over the production index is evaluated.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Henzel & Sebastian Rast, 2013. "Forecasting Properties of Indicators for Predicting GDP Growth in Germany," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 66(17), pages 39-46, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifosdt:v:66:y:2013:i:17:p:39-46
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Iselin & Boriss Siliverstovs, 2013. "Using Newspapers for Tracking the Business Cycle," KOF Working papers 13-337, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
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    3. Kai Carstensen & Steffen Henzel & Johannes Mayr & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2009. "IFOCAST: Methods of the Ifo short-term forecast," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 62(23), pages 15-28, December.
    4. Drechsel, Katja & Scheufele, Rolf, 2012. "The performance of short-term forecasts of the German economy before and during the 2008/2009 recession," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 428-445.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Pirschel, Inske & Wolters, Maik H., 2014. "Forecasting German key macroeconomic variables using large dataset methods," Kiel Working Papers 1925, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Steffen Henzel & Wolfgang Nierhaus & Tim Oliver Berg & Christian Breuer & Kai Carstensen & Christian Grimme & Oliver Hülsewig & Atanas Hristov & Nikolay Hristov & Michael Kleemann & Wolfgang Meister &, 2013. "Ifo Economic Forecast 2013/2014: German Economy Picks Up Steam," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 66(24), pages 20-67, December.
    5. Inske Pirschel & Maik H. Wolters, 2018. "Forecasting with large datasets: compressing information before, during or after the estimation?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 573-596, September.
    6. Robert Lehmann, 2023. "The Forecasting Power of the ifo Business Survey," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 19(1), pages 43-94, March.
    7. Christian Seiler & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2013. "The Ifo Business Climate and the German Economy," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 66(18), pages 17-21, October.
    8. Steffen Henzel, 2015. "Forecasting Accuracy of the Ifo Business Survey – Influence of New Seasonal Adjustment with X-13ARIMA-SEATS," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(01), pages 59-63, January.
    9. Timo Wollmershäuser, 2015. "Evaluation of Ifo Economic Forecasts – a Comparison with Forecasts by Consensus Economics," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(22), pages 26-28, November.
    10. Stefan Sauer & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2020. "ifo Handbuch der Konjunkturumfragen," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 88.
    11. Steffen Henzel & Robert Lehmann & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2015. "Die Machbarkeit von Kurzfristprognosen für den Freistaat Sachsen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 22(04), pages 21-25, August.
    12. Timo Wollmershäuser & Wolfgang Nierhaus & Nikolay Hristov & Tim Oliver Berg & Christian Breuer & Johanna Garnitz & Christian Grimme & Atanas Hristov & Robert Lehmann & Wolfgang Meister & Magnus Reif &, 2016. "Ifo Economic Forecast 2016/2017: Upturn in Germany Enters Second Half," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(12), pages 21-57, June.
    13. Wolfgang Nierhaus & Timo Wollmershäuser, 2016. "ifo Konjunkturumfragen und Konjunkturanalyse: Band II," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 72.
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    JEL classification:

    • H61 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Budget; Budget Systems
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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