What it is
The member states of the European Union that share the euro. They have one central bank and one monetary policy, while each government keeps its own budget and its own debt, and that arrangement shapes much of how the area is read.
What the economy is known for
- Varied by country: export-led manufacturing of vehicles, machinery and chemicals, centred on Germany, beside services and tourism elsewhere
- Very open to trade, so world demand matters to it
- An importer of most of its energy
- One monetary policy with many national budgets, so the bond yields of member governments are watched against one another
A description of structure, in words. No size, share or ranking is given: those are figures, and they are read at the statistical offices named below.
Its central bank and mandate
The European Central Bank’s primary objective is price stability across the euro area as a whole, not in any one country. Policy is set by its Governing Council, on which the national central banks sit.
European Central Bank on Central Bank Watch
The policy rate, the last decision and the next meeting are not shown on this site: they are read at the bank’s own publication.
The releases that matter, and who publishes them
- Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, including the flash estimatePublished by EurostatExplainer: CPI
- Gross Domestic ProductPublished by EurostatExplainer: GDP
- UnemploymentPublished by EurostatExplainer: Jobless rate
- Purchasing managers’ surveys for the euro area and its membersPublished by S&P GlobalExplainer: PMI
- Ifo Business Climate Index for GermanyPublished by ifo Institute
- National releases for the member statesPublished by the national statistical offices, among them Destatis (Germany), INSEE (France) and Istat (Italy)
No dates or figures are shown here: each publisher’s own calendar is the authority. The explainers are in Economic Events; a release without a link has no explainer on this site yet.
Its main stock index
DAX (Germany) and EURO STOXX 50 (the euro area). There is no single national market. The German DAX is the index GIO4X lists; the EURO STOXX 50, which covers large companies across the area, is not a GIO4X instrument.
GIO4X lists this index as an index CFD. The contract and its published conditions are on the instrument page, labelled as indicative.
Its currency
The currency of the euro area is the euro (EUR), issued by the European Central Bank. GIO4X lists 3 currency pairs that contain it; they are set out on the currency’s profile.
Words worth knowing
A reference page. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. It gives no figure, no ranking and no forecast.