Eurozone weekly economic briefing – Gloomy outlook just before Christmas

The spread of Omicron across Europe coupled with the holiday season will probably result in a surge in infections over the next few weeks. This will pose strong pressure on governments to act, both in terms of further restrictions and in boosting vaccination campaigns. In the meantime, data this week has added to the gloomy outlook.

What you will learn:

• Consumer confidence fell to its lowest since March and our Recovery Tracker posted its consecutive sixth decline.
• A look at what we were expecting this time last year revealed that growth has been a touch stronger, driven by robust rebounds in Italy and France.
• Spain remained the main laggard while Germany suffered from the supply bottlenecks that brought industrial activity to a standstill.