About the macroeconomic projections

Eurosystem/ECB staff macroeconomic projections provide an input to the ECB Governing Council’s assessment of economic developments and risks to price stability. These projections are neither endorsed by the Governing Council nor do they necessarily reflect the views of the Governing Council on the outlook for the euro area. Information on the procedures and techniques used is given in A guide to the Eurosystem/ECB staff macroeconomic projection exercises, ECB, July 2016.

The projections are published four times a year:

• March and September projections are produced by ECB staff
• June and December projections are produced jointly by Eurosystem and ECB staff

The jointly produced projections for June and December also include information on the outlook for individual euro area countries – this is published two weeks after the euro area projections for those months.

The period of time covered by these projections typically includes the current year and the following two years – with the exception that, for December projections, this is extended to include the current year and the following three years.

Other projections by the national central banks of the ESCB

The national central banks (NCBs) of the ESCB prepare macroeconomic projections for their own country. These are not necessarily identical to those which underlie the Eurosystem and ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area.