Sentiment among the self-employed deteriorates significantly

The sentiment among solo self-employed and micro-enterprises deteriorated significantly again in April following an improvement in the previous month. The business climate index calculated by the Ifo Institute together with the online service provider Jimdo fell by eight points to minus 23.8 points in April. Accordingly, the self-employed assessed both current business and the outlook more negatively.

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“The weak order situation remains a serious problem,” explained Ifo expert Katrin Demmelhuber. According to the survey, almost every second self-employed person (48.4 percent) is affected by a lack of orders. Respondents are finding it increasingly difficult to predict how their business will develop. According to Demmelhuber, this could also be due to the customs dispute with the USA.

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The index for the current business situation fell to minus 19.4 points after minus 12.7 points in March. Expectations also deteriorated and stood at minus 28.1 points in April after minus 18.9 points in the previous month. According to the data, the manufacturing industry was particularly affected by the development, where risks from US customs policy are likely to play a major role. However, the indicator also fell in the retail and service sectors.

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"The sentiment of optimism following the German parliamentary elections and the financial package has quickly evaporated for many self-employed people," explained Jimdo CEO Matthias Henze. Large companies curbed their budgets, which in turn had an impact on smaller companies. Ifo and Jimdo have been calculating the business climate index for solo self-employed and micro-enterprises with fewer than nine employees since August 2021. All sectors are covered, with a focus on the service sector. According to the data, a good 1660 solo self-employed and micro-enterprises are surveyed every month.

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