BERLIN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The German business climate "collapsed" from 96.0 points in February to 86.1 points in March, the "steepest fall ever recorded since German reunification" and the lowest value since July 2009, the German economic ifo Institute announced on Wednesday.
Preliminary results released last week had already shown a steep decline of the ifo climate index for March but, at 87.7 points, the decline was slightly less pronounced than the confirmed figures now published.
In the German manufacturing sector, business expectations worsened from minus 10 points to almost minus 40 points which was the most precipitous fall in the 70-year history of the industry survey, according to ifo.
The ifo indicator for the current business evaluation of German manufacturing companies dropped "less pronounced" by around five points to zero.
While the ifo index for the German construction sector fell "comparatively moderately," Germany's service sector saw the greatest fall since the data was first individually measured in 2005 as business expectations declined by 30 points to minus 30.
In the German trade sector, the business climate indicator also collapsed. Ifo President Clemens Fuest noted that "expectations tumbled to their lowest level since German reunification," and added that "companies also revised their assessment of the current situation markedly downward."
Business expectations in trade fell from minus 10 points to almost minus 40 points while the assessment of the evaluation of the current business situation declined by around 15 points.
According to Fuest, the development was "equally negative across wholesale and retail" while food retailers and drugstores had been "positive exceptions."
